Stargate: The Covenant Empire
by Lucifer 00
Summary: The Path of Salvation lies with the Covenant, a alliance of chosen races from a half dozen universes brought together into the Stargate Universe. Please Review
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster. **

_Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power_

**Revelation 9:1-3**

**The Holy Bible**

**Chapter One**

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

"_Watch out, run!"_

"_Move, move out of the god dang way!"_

"_Get out of the way, bub!"_

_Screams…_

_Howls…_

_Screeches…_

_Alexander Reed stood at the edge of the sidewalk as what seemed like the entire population of White Plains surged past him, people on bicycles or cars and motorcycles fleeing with what little possessions they had. They were scared, like he was, and for good reason:_

_Earth was under attack. _

_It had happened so quickly, so suddenly, no one expected it all. The cities of New York, Chicago, Paris, Moscow, Madrid, Cairo, Beijing, Sydney, Lima, La Paz, Tehran, New Delhi, and a hundred others were already in flames when everyone realized what was going on to them. By the third hour of the attack, Skyscrapers had toppled, apartments exploded, bridges collapsed, and forests were consumed as pillars of black smoke speared the sky, fouling the air. _

_The nations of Earth, this Earth, wasted no time bickering amongst each other, hurling accusations and curses at each other, wasting precious minutes as their satellites and their few orbital defenses were shot down. The Hubble Telescope and International Space Station were the first to be destroyed. _

_The precious minutes, the precious __**hour **__the two hundred or so governments of Earth wasted, two countries had already launched missiles at each other. When the nature of the threat had been realized, and they tried to abort, it had already been too late: And so the cities of Bombay and Islamabad vanished under the plume of the raging fire of a mushroom cloud. _

_Alexander laughed, almost insanely as a man, a big beefy man that reeked of cow meat, pushed him to the side, wheezing as he tripped and smashed into a garbage can, spilling rotten milk and god know what over him. Alexander fell and cut his arm on a jagged piece of glass, ignoring the pain. _

_To him, pain was familiar, very familiar. As a bitter orphan and being rejected several times, being beat up by fellow orphans, being abused and ignored on the streets, and even arrested three times, he knew pain. It was an old friend. So was fury, fury and hate, the two emotions that kept him going. _

_He wiped the blood off on his shorts and curled up as people, less now, continued to run by him and the fat man, who was probably unconscious. Maybe he was dead-but he didn't really care. _

_The truth was that the attack originated in space, from the void of blackness where man had just begun to venture. Monsters, the same that children so wisely feared, had finally arrived to claim a new world for their own. _

_They had been astonished by the sheer number of sentient beings on a single plant, more than they could tame, and so to instill fear and control, more than 4 billion died in less than three hours. To say that the human population had been decimated would have been a lie: it was far worse for a single reason:_

_Because people continued to die, a hundred people with each passing minute, the once arrogant and prideful species of sentient, evolved, apes, being reduced to a mere shadow of it's former self. _

_Two F-15's, he guessed anyway since he didn't really know the difference between US aircraft (they all looked the same to him, shot over as a massive shadow descended from above. Alexander was mesmerized since the shadow was not a single shape, but of many hundreds of massive ships, like the 'boats' fro m Starship Trooper, dropped downwards from above. _

_Two went up in flames as missiles from the aircraft were fired, and another blew apart as they fired their chain guns and split up. Then, out of nowhere, a dozen craft, each like a sleek wing with a squashed cockpit in the middle, made a V-formation and spat out jets of fire, bullets. _

_The two American aircraft were easily shot down. _

"_Screw you!" Alexander screamed, giving the finger as the alien aircraft, because they had to be, dropped a series of bombs around him, blowing up buildings and killing people, blood running down the streets as limbs were thrown aimlessly, adding to the screams of horror and pain and death. _

"_Help me… please…"_

"_Ugh… mommy, where is mommy!"_

"_Please, please…"_

"_AAAHHHHHH!"_

"_The pain!"_

_Screams…_

_Howls…_

_Moans…_

_The usual._

_Strangely, Alexander didn't really care about those people. Yeah, he wanted to throw up, cough out the violence that was going on, but that was all. He didn't really believe in a God, although he did have a cross necklace, but after his childhood, it felt good to see the same people who had ignored him, possibly abandoned him, get their just deserts, if a bit overkill. _

_Of course he felt bad for the kids who were probably dying right now, but he didn't see any and his life came first. If he died, he was dead. And to him, that was not acceptable at all. _

_This…_

_This had been four days ago. _

Since then, he, Alexander Reed of 39 South Road, Greenburg, Westchester County of New York in the United States, was huddling underneath a box, eating a apple he had found in a tree.

He was skinny, and he was malnourished and tired. He felt so **sick**… but he was used to it. Not that used to it, but he was used to it. He wiped his mouth and coughed. He reached into his coat's pocket, a coat he had found while looking into the few houses on Jackson Street a day ago, and took out a cough drop.

He unrolled it and popped it into his mouth. Mmm… he liked this taste of orange, it was really good. "Now, if only I can find some goddamn water that doesn't have any blood or dirt in it. That would be a miracle in itself. So Jesus, if you are listening, how about a bottle of water?"

He looked around his little box.

He laughed.

"Yeah, why would you listen after all that you've caused us. I wonder how the Pope is, your 'messenger' or whatever. Is he dead yet, or something? Cause, you really are a son of a…" He stopped and felt angry, or frustrated. He almost called God… Christ, he wasn't a devote Christian, but to curse his name was really evil! "Sorry, but you are the worst. Really, why do this to us? We had enough issues on our hand. I mean, with the Economy, the North Korea Missile thing… speaking of, is Obama even alive? I wonder if you killed him off yet."

That was sad. Obama was a cool guy. He never met the man, but he and his family had voted for him. He thanked God, at the time, for being 18 when Obama ran for the office. He had even gone to D.C. to see him, and saw him and Biden, heard Obama swear himself in office.

Hell, he had even gotten two Obama T-Shirts. A waste of money, but he had wanted a souvenir. "Jesus, you really suck."

_Click-cli-click-click-kkk-cl-ick-cl-ic-ccick…_

He froze and closed the box flaps, breathing slowly as his eyes widened in terror at the inhuman clicks. He swallowed the cough drop without even realizing it, not caring that his apple had fallen to the floor. It was **them**… The aliens, the invaders, those big ugly monsters, the FREAKS!

In other words, bastards.

He heard their rough clicks, their native tongue, maybe two of three patrolling the area, looking for human survivors. He shivered, and felt a cough try to break out from within, but pushed it back. He did not want to be a captured human; he wanted to be a free human.

He remembered the first time he saw them, just several hours after the 'boats' had landed. Several police cops actually tried to fight them off, shooting with pistols and a most likely illegal M16 in the middle of the god dang streets. Really, he even he wasn't that stupid.

The invaders were oversized bugs, ironic since the Starship Trooper-like boats came from a movie where mankind was fighting a race of oversized bugs too. They looked like a cross between a giant and a scorpion. It had a ant's body, with four legs. The 'chest' was shaped like an S, with two arms at the sides, one with a Scorpion claw, and the other with a series of strange graspers, like tentacle-fingers.

He didn't know how to describe the ugly head.

To make a short story shorter, the cops got mauled, shot, eaten, and then what was left behind for the carrion, the crows. The bugs used guns too, giant guns that fired bullets too. He could have taken the guns from the dead cops, if the bugs hadn't taken them for themselves.

_Click-cli-click-click-kkk-cl-ick-cl-ic-ccick…_

_Click-cli-click ick-cl-ic click-kkk-cl…_

Cl-ick-kkk-cc-iic…

The clicks became more distant as, presumably since he couldn't see through the box, the bugs 'walked' away. He sighed in relief when he opened the box and saw that he was right. He wondered what he was going to do then. He had to find a house, one that didn't have a broken wall (every standing house was broken in half,) and he needed a weapon.

Any weapon, so long as it killed.

"Screw you too, you damn buggers," he spat, suddenly wishing he hadn't done that as a lash of pain struck his throat. "Ugh." He reached into his pocket and twirled another cough drop with his tongue. Didn't really help the pain, but it did taste good, and he was hungry.

He wanted revenge, he wanted payback against them. He wanted to live and to kill the evil. "God, if you are listening, please, please let me kill them. I will do anything to kill them; I will become the devil if I have to. Please, give me the tools to kill these inhuman sons-of-bi-"

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

_BOOM!_

Alexander looked out his box as a fireball from sky, a strange green wisp behind it, raced towards his little box-home. Alexander cursed. "Oh come on! I just found the box!"

Then he ran out and jumped behind the only piece of cover he could find: A Lamp Post.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster. **

_For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood. Your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity._

**Isaiah 59:3-4**

**The Holy Bible**

**The Tok'ra Korra worried for his host Falle**, **even though he himself was severely hurt, dying. But caring for others, the host they stared a bond with, came natural and was instinct. Falle was dying as well, and not even if Korra gave up his life, could his host survive his severe injuries. **

**Their brief engagement with the Replicators on their Al'kesh had taken a toll on his long-time host. An iron bar had been shoved into his body, narrowly missing Korra, but causing irreversible damage to Falle. But he had to live, he **_**had **_**to. The message he carried was of great importance! **

**He had to find the Tok'ra, of the Tau'ri, even the suspicious Jaffa Rebellion! What Ba'al had, or Anubis, had… if they used it, the either of them could gain power beyond their imagining! The power of worlds, the power of endless fleets and unlimited Kull Warriors and billions of enslaved worlds and galaxies! **

**He looked at the device in the bay behind him, the device he had stolen. It looked like a mirror, but it was much more than a simple mirror. If he was right, this device had the ability to transverse universes. He frowned as he saw the 'mirror' ripple and then calm. **

**He ignored it. **

**It was most likely nothing of concern. **

"**We… we are not above… my Homeworld, Korra," Falle whispered, gasping as he pried open his eyes and looked out of the cockpit. "This… this is a broken world… where… where are…we?" **

**Korra was surprised by that statement. **

**He looked at the world, taking brief control of Falle to allow him to rest for a few more seconds, to gain some more strength. He was right, this world was a destroyed industrial world, and not the pre-industrial world Falle's world had been. He was flabbergasted. He was sure he had entered the right co-ordinates for his world, he was positive!**

**He checked the vessel's star maps, hoping to shed light on his strange scenario. His eyes widened in disbelief at what the map indicated.**

**He was above Earth. **

**The Home of the Tau'ri Warriors! **

**How?**

"**Earth… our… allies…fall…too late…" Falle whispered mentally, but using his body's voice to speak out loud, gasping for air when he finished. **

**Korra reassured the man, "It is possibly a navigation error-" which was unlikely, "-this cannot be Earth. We would have known!"**

"**Would we… ave?"**

**Korra didn't respond. He knew that Earth had been comprised a few times in the past, but they had always survived. This… was beyond a simple attack. Then the Tau'ri alarms he had placed in the ship began to blare. Korra covered his ears and wondered what possessed him to install such noisy devices. "We have entered the planet's atmosphere, we cannot escape!"**

"**Cloak…"**

**He nodded; his host nodded at least, and activated the cloaking as flares flickered on the shields of the large vessel. Carefully, with all the strength his dying host had, he managed to land the Al'kesh as safely as possible, crashing into a wall and a box, the Al'kesh suffering no harm thanks to it's shields. It appeared, briefly, and then faded as its cloaking activated. **

**He gasped in pain, as pain coursed through their dying body. He had landed the ship… it was in tact and still active. He needed help. He fully expected the Tauri to come help him… unless… He stood up, blood pouring from the body, and looked at the device in the other bay, realization dawning upon him. **

**The mirror had activated: This was Earth, but not his Earth, a completely different Earth, a alternate version. One where it had been ruined by war and invasion, completely useless! **

**He realized that he was a dead man and his message would not reach the Tauri or any of his allies. He felt sadness and felt what was left of his host slowly begin to die away. **

**Suddenly, he heard a sound. Dragging himself by the sheer force of his will, Korra opened the hatch, and exited the ship and crumpled into the mound of scorched gravel right outside the door.**

**BAM!**

**Korra gasped and wheezed as a object hit him on his chest, driving the metal bar deeper into the body. **

"**Oh shit, my bad!"**

**He cracked open his eyes and saw a young man, possibly 19 or 20 years of age, look at him, holding a long… stick… in his hands like a weapon. "Sorry, I thought you were a Bugger."**

"**A… Bugger?"**

"**Yeah, the aliens who invaded us, conquered us, you know. Like the Covenant in Halo, the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, the Goa'uld from Stargate, I think even the Bog from Star Trek... you know, the standard cliché from al Sci-Fi games and movie and stuff."**

**Covenant, Cylons, Goa'uld… and the 'Borg?'' He recognized only the third title, and his eyes glowed in distaste at his species greatest enemy. "Child… please, help me… please…"**

**The man looked at him in confusion. "Oh Christ-" the monotheistic 'God' many Tau'ri believed in. "-you spoke like a Goa'uld. And your eyes glowed! What the hell are you?" **

"**I… am Korra of the Tok'ra, one of their many spies. I need to deliver a message and a warning… my host… is dying… Please, I beg you… merge with me and allow me to deliver the message. I promise I will… leave you when I have delivered the message, it is our creed."**

Alexander was stunned. He liked Sci Fi, not that he was obsessed with since he liked only a few series and games of the type (Halo and Stargate in particular,) but this was too weird for him, and he lived in a world where the most cliché of aliens and attacks actually existed.

What could he do though?

This 'Korra' could be Goa'uld, pretending to be a Tok'ra, trying to find a new host. But then again… a Goa'uld would have probably forced his mouth on him (disgusting,) and take him as new host. Still, I thought of his prayer to God just moments before, and felt that this… was the answer! Goa'uld technology, technology that was most likely better than anything the Buggers had, here!

He leaned forward, although his hand didn't stray far from the branch. "I know about the Tok'ra…Korra," he struggled to remember the strange name. "I will be… glad to take you as a symbiote. Just, please, don't make it hurt too much."

He really didn't want anymore pain.

At that moment, the man with the bar in his chest opened his mouth. Then he remembered the Stargate episode where Carter put his mouth near Jolinar's mouth… and he hesitated.

Should he put his mouth on the other man's mouth? If the Tok'ra was a woman, it would be different… but….

The Tok'ra, the snake-like being, leaped out of his former host's mouth and into Alexander's mouth. His eyes bulged as he felt a last of pain at the back of his throat and felt fire rage across his neck.

I felt something slippery slide down and felt a sharp prick, and suddenly the pain ended. All of his pain vanished, not at once, but very quickly, his cough was gone, and the hunger was gone as well.

'**Thank you Alexander. You can help me deliver my message now,' **the Tok'ra said, Alexander hearing his voice in his head. It was creepy, but it was cool too. He wondered if Korra could hear his thought.

'**Indeed I can.**'

Sweet.

Then he felt himself be pushed to the side, and felt Korra take control of his body, and force him to walk. He walked to where Alexander knew the Al'kesh was (he felt giddy at the thought of a real space ship,) and entered the invisible craft.

He sighed and felt Korra return control. "What the hell was that for? Huh, c'mon, tell me!"

'**These 'Buggers' you refer these invaders as, were coming. For reasons I know not, they possess Naquadah in their blood. I sensed many of them coming.**'

Oh… now he felt bad.

"Sorry."

'**It is… understandable.'**

Alexander frowned. He felt… tired. Not him, Korra did. "Hey, are you alright…"

Suddenly he kneeled and clutched his head. His thoughts were pushed aside as the countless memories and knowledge of the Tok'ra swarmed his mind, taking root as the being let them loose.

Korra was amongst the eldest of the Tok'ra, and as such, his memory was long and he knew many things.

But in less than five seconds, the pain vanished. "What, what the heck was that? What did you do?"

He barely realized he was speaking Goa'uld.

'**Forgive me my Host…. But…even with your body…I cannot survive. The damage to me is permanent. The knowledge you possess of my universe, and of others… it is truly impressive. I am sorry for what happened to your world, but your world is gone, but mine, the countless worlds in my universe, they are still free. You must… ah…must help them. Know this message….**'

Suddenly I saw the device in the back of the bay, and realized what it did in the blink of an eye, sooner actually. The device was simply a superior form of the Quantum Mirror, much more powerful and could access different variants of the same universe at once.

Korra was from a universe where the Stargate, Goa'uld, Replicators, Wraith, Atlantis, they were all real. And where the year was, if was right, at least 2005 or so since Anubis was still alive and the Replicators had **just **invaded.

'Tell me Korra, what message should I give to the Tok'ra?'

Korra gave a mental smile.

'**I give my thanks, Alexander Reed. Anubis has planned to use this device to expand his dominion beyond this reality, as a safeguard. He intends to use the crisis of the replicators to destroy the Jaffa and have his forces destroy the Tau'ri Homeworld by having them invade through their Stargate. If he failed, he planned to use this device he had recovered as a means of escape to a reality devoid of any true enemies and expand his Empire anew. He has another being studied on Tartarus… if you can destroy it, you will save… my reality…**'

"I can access any universe from this device… wow."

Korra chuckled mentally.

'**True. It is incredible… our existence… the Goa'uld… we all mere fantasies, thoughts of fiction. All of our events are simply fabricated by people, yet to us, they are real life.'**

Alexander nodded absentminded.

'**My time here is short: I have given you all that I know so you can steal Anubis of his prize. Please… the fate of realities… they all depend upon… you…'**

"I will not fail."

'**For the sake of many, you cannot. The era… of False Gods… not… continue on… cannot…'**

Alexander flinched as he felt a strange tingle, and a lance of pain, strike from his neck through out his body. He knew, he knew Korra was sacrificing himself so he would survive.

It was a trait that Tok'ra had, that was built into their DNA to become them the opposite of the selfish Goa'uld. He felt Korra slip away, slowly, bringing forth all of the knowledge of the Goa'uld into the front of his mind.

'**You must… destroy the device once have destroyed the other one… No one else can gain this… this power…'**

Then Alexander laughed. "You mean destroy this? This thing can travel through God knows how many realities!"

"**Which is why it….ach…why…be destroyed!**"

Again, he laughed.

"Hell no. The era of False Gods will be destroyed, but the era of One God, the path to eternal peace and Ascension, to salvation through Jesus, that will begin and I shall lead the many races on that Path. Anubis Mirror will be destroyed, yes. But this mirror shall be my gateway to a… Covenant."

"**You… cannot….please…"**

Korra tried to stop his sacrifice, to recall the memories he had let go. But he could not, and Alexander felt his head throb painfully.

Because he fought his own sacrifice, the painful sacrifice was made only worse as he extended it.

After a hour, Korra died, and the pain dissipated. Alexander smirked as he reached beneath his shirt and pulled out the Cross. "Hail Jesus, for I am your Second Son, for I am Alexander. Heed my words, for I shall bring your glory to the universe across the unbelievers.

"I am Alexander Reed, the Second Coming of Christ."


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster. **

_A trustworthy witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies. _

**Proverbs 14:5**

**The Holy Bible**

_January 17, 2012 (Other Universe)_

_January 16, 2006 (Stargate Universe)_

The glittering flash came without warning, creating a watery glow in its wake that shimmered around the floor and the stockades of the canyon. It caught fragments of crystalline of the canyon, creating a glow around it. In the dreary light of the day, the deep reds and burnt umber of the rocks were dulled, diluted by the sheen of the fine, persistent rain.

The glowing puddle of radiance set into the sheer side of the tallest rock face shone like a mirror made of ripples, held in place by a steel-gay ring studded at regular intervals with luminous orange arrowheads.

Presently, a squat rectangular mechanism on whirling motorized wheels ventured through the circle, took the steps below it with an eerily, robotic care, and paused at the threshold.

It offered telescopic arms to the sky, casting around with a stubby head equipped with digital abstractions of the human senses. After several minutes, it fell into a dormant state, and waited, patiently, its job done.

The mirror flexed once more, again, and figures in green followed the path of the machine.

Four people, two men and two women armed with ballistic rifles (although one wasn't armed), and wearing drab green clothing stepped out, moving in such a way that might have seemed far too casual, to someone who did not know them at all.

She turned and smiled cheekily as she stepped down the shallow stairs from the Stargate. "Well, no signs of any intelligent life or precious goods. Looks like you owe me a date, Daniel!"

Daniel Jackson grimaced. "Look, Vala, we never made a bet. I will never go on a date with you! The last time we met, you took over the _Prometheus_, took me hostage and tried to sell the ship for some Naquadah! And besides, we just arrived here; you don't know what's behind the corner."

"Oh blah-blah-blah, Daniel," she said nonchalantly, "You know there's nothing here, other than maybe a small village or two."

Colonel Cameron Mitchell sighed as the two bickered. "Christ, can the two of you just stop arguing for one minute?"

The two stopped.

He shook his head in amusement. When he said that, he didn't actually mean for them to stop that quick. But… it did feel good, now that he thought about it. "Vala, don't bother Jackson. The only reason you're with us is that-"

"-Of these bracelets!" She said cheerfully.

"Don't remind me," Jackson said sourly.

Shaking her head in amusement, Carter said, "You know what, I think I would like to travel to a world that doesn't have very hot weather."

"It not that bad," Mitchell said, wiping away a bead of sweat, "A brave man likes the feel of nature on his face, right Teal'c?"

"Indeed," replied the Jaffa, "but a wise man has the sense to get in out of the rain."

"That's, what I'm talking about," Vala said as she took Daniel's boonie and placed it on her head for some shade. Daniel, in response, snatched back, and earned a glare from Vala, whom he ignored.

"Well, looks like there was rain recently," Daniel said, pointing to a rain could in the not-to-far distance.

Carter walked over to the MALP and kneeled, studying the hooded panel built into the back of the MALP remote explorer. There was a whoop of air as the gateway's energy folded in on it and vanished. Mitchell looked over his shoulder at the now-dormant Stargate.

Most of the ones they found were free standing, but this one had been set into a rock, almost like it had been embedded there. Mitchell was reminded of a fossil, fused into the stone.

Carter glanced at him. "I'm going to go ahead and deploy the UAV now, sir," she said as she fiddled with the 'sleeping' MALP.

"A-OK," he replied. "Do your thing."

From the cargo compartment of the MALP rover, Carter recovered what looked like a cross between a Mac Laptop and a controller from a video game with a antennae on its back. Within moments, with his admiration, she had it booted up and running in no time at all.

A cylindrical compartment on the MALP's flatbed flapped open and something inside rattled into life with a noise like a great swarm of wasps (or locusts, Mitchell thought, remembering the 10 plagues of Egypt his grandma had taught him.) She toggled a control and a fat torus painted in dark green with a hell lot of scratches leapt out of the canister and slowed to a trembling hover above their heads.

"What's that?" Mitchell asked.

"It appears to be a modified UAV," Teal'c said as he scouted the nearby area, his P90 at ready as he looked behind the little foliage.

"Well, it looks a bit smaller than the usual ones," Daniel interjected, peering at it as it continued its trembling hover.

"The usual UAV's were outmoded when we installed improved Long-Range Sensors to the MALP. Also, due to the fact that most of the worlds we encounter know about us and are friendly, there hasn't been any use of the UAV recently. This UAV is the first of a new generation, one that General Landry is funding for increased security. It has advanced camera and sensors as well as a built in-Naquadah Generator and several solar panels that are capable of recharging."

"Are those panels the ones we're planning to have patented?"

"Yes Daniel."

"Oh, just asking."

"Blah-blah-blah-can we get to the exploring for some treasure!"

"Vala…"

"You're no fun Daniel, you know that."

"How can I forget when you remind me every five minutes?"

"As I was saying, the UAV uses new aero propulsion technology under its 'wings' that allows traveling at faster speeds than the old models with rotating blades. In fact, the Army is planning on using the propulsion for their own drones. They bought the rights just two days ago for their 'Advanced WarFighter Program.'"

"I believe O'Neill addressed them as 'flying donuts.'"

"He did Teal'c."

"Indeed."

"Alright, Carter, see what the UAV can find in the area around us."

"I'll send it to the end of the ravine." Carter worked the remote control and the drone's engines pulsed and flared, creating a short _whine _before it took off, in a blur of dark green.

Mitchell slung his P90 and wiped off more beads of sweat. Carter removed the monitor from the MALP and clipped it to her vest.

"Neat," Mitchell commented.

His eyes ranged about, taking in the whole of the box canyon where the Stargate was situated. In the distance, in the direction the UAV had flown, he could see odd shapes like shall hills, and overhead nothing but slow moving clouds, black with rain. "How come the army always gets the cool stuff?"

"Well, we do have intergalactic starships, Colonel," Carter noted dryly, "As well as space fighters, energy weapons, and instantaneous interplanetary and intergalactic wormhole travel."

"I mean besides those," he sighed. "Still though. Better than being in the Navy, that's for sure. All they have is that song."

"I heard that song, it isn't that good at all," Vala commented. "Really, sound's like, well, really bad."

"Won't argue with you there," Daniel said reluctantly.

"I see no possible threats in the area. I find no tracks in the immediate area, Mitchell; this gate does not appear to be in regular use."

"The rain could have washed out any trails," Cater offered, earning a look from the tall Jaffa. "See the shaping of the rocks, the smoothing? That's from water flow. My guess is that this place sees a lot precipitation."

"Should have packed our slickers," the Colonel retorted. "Okay, let's go do our exploring."

The team advanced along the canyon. "Again, someone tells me whose idea it was to come here," Mitchell said his foot slipped into a large crack in the ground.

"Dixon," explained Carter, "He came back from that desert planet with a lead from the locals to this planet, something about a race of highly advanced beings or civilization on this planet."

"Why did Major Dixon not take this mission, then?" Teal'c questioned.

"His wife is having another baby, his third child. He's a good airman, but he's a glutton for punishment, as General O'Neill would say…" To their surprise, the rain cloud in the distant came closer, and they began to be hit by a drizzle. She paused as a diffuse flash of lightning flared overhead, followed rapidly by a low rumble of thunder. The temp of the rain stepped up.

"Why do we have to walk everywhere on every mission," Vala complained, "Why can't you get your leader to give us some of your primitive 'cars.' I love those Seed-an things those rich people drive."

Carter's console chimed and she manipulated the controls. She removed the monitor from her vest and manipulated the controls. "Huh. That's particular."

"Got something?"

"The UAV has short range ground-penetrating radar; the army uses it for detecting buried landmines… I'm getting intermittent returns from the area ahead, where the canyon opens up…. Hello. Now I'm getting EMP interference… could be from the storm but I doubt that… "

"Could be the civilization Dixon was told about," Daniel said.

Mitchell nodded.

"Given SG-1's track record, let's not stray too close, huh?"

Carter nodded. "Yes sir. We should head this way, then."

The rain gave everything a fresh chill, but there was little wind. The walls of the narrow arroyo gradually sank down to reveal a large open plain formed by the same kind of porous, silicate-laced stone that was surrounded the gate.

Daniel took a couple of steps forward and stopped, blinking. From a distance he thought he has looking at regular hillocks, maybe a tomb mound of some kind; but as the canyon floor slopped a little, he saw the full dimension of what the objects were. "Hill huts," he said, "amazing."

"Ooh, people living in moldy homes. How _exciting_," Vala complained, "please, there is nothing remotely interesting about it."

They were clumped together, almost identical in size and shape, in a circular row with a single large mound in the middle of them. "This is new… I don't think we ever met a civilization that lives in the ground."

"That's right," Daniel said, "never, this civilization looks primitive, not advanced like what the native said… but these 'hill huts' are pretty advanced for an agrarian society like this."

"Advanced?"

"No offense, Jackson, but to me, advanced means electricity, oven, guns, planes, trains, bricks and steel-You know, what we have," Mitchell said.

Jackson nodded. "Yes well… wow, this looks a round barrow, a, ah, tomb designs from Northern Europe, or a Mycenaean Tomb of Early Greece, circa 1600 BC-1200 BC… but…"

"Tomb? You know, tombs often have loot in them," Vala said, smiling.

"Not now, Vala," Daniel said impatiently.

She frowned.

Mitchell walked up to Carter.

"Where's the UAV?" Mitchell said.

"Gone," Carter said, surprised looking at the monitor, "All I'm getting is interference from an EMP field. I don't know where it's coming from, and I don't know where the UAV is at all."

"Alright, let's go meet the natives," Mitchell said. Slinging their P90's, the members of SG-1 and their companion, walked down the hill and entered the 'area' around the village. "Hello, anyone here?" Mitchell hollered as they walked into the middle of the village.

Nothing…

"Seems like no ones home," Daniel said.

"Boring!" Vala moaned. "Can we go now?"

Carter shook her head. "We should at least look around."

"Indeed."

"Alright, split up and look around."

"Yes, sir."

They fanned out, and looked around.

Daniel tapped one of the hull-huts. It made a bang, surprising him. "W-, there's metal underneath this!"

"Metal?"

"Yeah, maybe for support… but this is extremely advanced for this type of society, one that shouldn't be able to use metal likes this."

They fanned out, their P90's at ready, while Vala stuck by Daniel's side, bored out of her mind. "It appears that this village has been deserted for some time. There appears to be nothing in these homes," Teal'c reported.

"Yeah," Daniel said.

"Great, nothing here, can we go now?"

"No, Vala."

They didn't move several steps when a man stepped out of the central hill-hut. Carter, who had been passing by, paused, swerved, and aimed her rifle. Mitchell saw her and jogged over.

He was old, with wrinkles on a whiteface with graying-whitish hair that was neatly combed.

He had crease lines on his forehead and bags underneath his eyes. He wore elaborate white robe, almost like that of a Catholic Priest. He had a pendant, silver, hanging from his neck.

But for his old age, SG-1 could see the muscles underneath the robes that were form fitting.

Jackson, Vala, and Teal'c walked over, wary.

Jackson recognized the symbol edged on it: It was a Caddo Solar Cross, or a Sun Cross, but he didn't look Native American.

"Hello, newcomers," he said, opening his hands. "Welcome to Primo Solis, Capital of the First World."

"Uh, hello," Colonel Mitchell said. "Jackson, this is your turf. Go!"

Jackson stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm Daniel Jackson. We… come in peace," he said lamely.

"Nice going," Vala said, whispering in his ear.

He pushed her away.

"You are travelers from the Stargate, correct?" He asked. "Of course you are. Please put your weapons away, you don't really need them."

"Uh, yeah… so, what's your name?"

He looked at them and smiled.

"I am Brother Cavil."


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster. **

_As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries _

**1 Peter 1:10**

**The Holy Bible**

_January 17, 2012 (Other Universe)_

_January 16, 2006 (Stargate Universe)_

A young man, unshaven and gaunt from days of walking with hardly any food to eat, checked his compass. Around him, his companions began to stir and awaken from under the abandoned over pass they had come across the night before. The young man, Ward, was their leader and already geared up for the day's trek further north. Tapping his communication link at his ear, Ward nodded to his second in command that the distress signal they had been tracing was still audible. She gave a solemn nod and quickly got ready along with their other companions. While Ward waited, he was greeted by their three dogs. Silently, his team individually prepared and did inventory of their gear; a quick and rationed breakfast had hardly settled in their empty stomachs as they marched north to the blipping dot on their visors.

Ward had made himself and his team an important part of John Connor's Resistance, in TechCom. They specialized in search and rescue; their days were spent sifting through rubble of cityscapes and abandoned settlements for survivors or the dead that had a chance to get word out of their need for help. Few search and rescue efforts were as successful as Ward's.

They managed to gain some notoriety and even a good word or two from Connor himself. They each had their own personal reasons for wanting to save these people and none were more grateful than those they had carried away from certain death (only to face other terrors, they were sure).

The five soldiers had come a long way from their youth, running away from the terror of Skynet and the machines. With Connor's army, with the Resistance, they learned to know the enemy and defeat it. Ward's second in command, Natalie, or Nate as she preferred to be called, was an angry and passionate co-commander. Despite Ward's caution, she was often the first to take on any attack, running straight to her death it seemed. Then there was Jack, who seemed to have a sixth sense for machines and their little tricks. He was short and muscular despite a non-existent diet for such a physic. He often teased Nate on a pending romance, but that was the farthest thing from any of their minds. Bull was the tallest and gentlest of them all. He usually held the sniffer dogs, keeping 'em calm and alert. Finally, Payton rounded off the gang as the tactical expert and sharp shooter. Payton didn't talk much; he had a rough childhood from what they could tell...

It had been over 48 hours ago when the SOS was faintly picked up over the Resistance airways. The Westchester County had all been abandoned by the Resistance: a no man's land with scattered settlements that dotted the area and what remained of towns and cities. One after one, the team passed pitiful settlements as checkpoints in search of the signal's origin. Still, it called them further north into the dry, deserted waste from the atomic fallout of Judgment Day.

Westchester was Skynet Central; it had at least a dozen factories that produced their T-600's and Hunter-Killer models. White Plains, he had visited the place before, had been nuked by and was completely wasted. The Resistance had done it, when they had pulled out of there, using a stolen nuclear bomb. No one thought anyone would be able to survive there… but some one had. It was near sundown when the signal got strong and the treetops appeared in the distance. "What's that?" Bull called ahead.

"A...it's a forest," Nate swallowed. Vegetation wasn't as scarce as it was after the bombs fell. But, to find a forest such as the one they were standing a few miles away from was a sight to be seen.

"I'll be damned," Jack said under his breath.

"Nate, the signal must be coming from there. It got stronger once we topped this incline, any records of flybys or incidents in this region?" Ward asked as he wiped his brow on his sleeve. There were still some independents out there, resistance cells that didn't link up with TechCom.

"No, sir: anything has been out here as far as we're concerned. Whatever is out there is lost or-"

"A damn Skynet trap," Jack interrupted. "Neither Connor nor any of the Resistance has any business in there..."

"Maybe it was a trap and someone already walked into it, Sir! People might still be in there and need us," Bull pleaded.

Ward looked to Payton, who stood silent at the top of the incline. He gave Ward a curt nod in agreement. They had no choice but to answer the call. "Let's go," Ward ordered. "We'll make camp before sun down."

Ward awakened to the sound of hushed whispers. His eyes adjusted to the dying fire light in the darkness to see Bull struggling with the dogs. Holding two by their collars in one hand and hugging the other at its chest, he pleaded with them to be quiet and be still.

"Bull? What is it?" Ward whispered loudly. It didn't matter, everyone had woken up.

"I dunno, sir! Something got them spooked," Bull nodded to the forest just yards ahead of them. The dogs whimpered and withered to get free from Bull.

"Machines, those Terminators?" Nate asked.

"All the way out here, it could be, though they tend to stay away from forests since their sensors don't work that well," Bull shook his head.

"Anything is possible, Bull."

"We've got about an hour before light, Sir."

By sun up, Ward's team was breaching the forest line towards the signal's origin. They were all on alert as the dogs paced back and forth a few yards ahead of them, sniffing and hopping from one patch of earth to the next in excitement as they went in deeper to the woods.

The sounds of the leaves rustling and a flutter of bird's wings were foreign to the group. They were accustomed to the sweeping sounds of an aerial HK flying high above and the crumbling walls of their city landscape.

Payton, who was trying to ignore the beauty in it all, had stepped on a patch of clovers and little purple flowers. He realized where he had stepped and paused to take in the sight of green and purple against his darkened boots and soiled pant legs. He suddenly felt guilty for trampling over them before his training and fear took over his senses again. He hopped lightly to catch up with the group that had gained some distance ahead of him.

Just as he caught up with the group, the dogs stopped and pointed as they had been trained. A beat and the group had taken defensive positions behind trees. Payton dropped to the ground to get a better advantage point for his shot. Scanning the trees ahead with his rifle's sight, he motioned to Ward that he saw nothing. Bull, puzzled by the dog's behavior and no clear sight of an enemy, turned to Jack and whispered, "You think there's ghosts in here?"

Jack, dumbfounded at such a question, turned to Bull and spat, "Have you lost it? The only ghosts I've seen are the blasted shadows in the city left by the dead on J-Day. Try to focus, Bull."

Just then, a swift breeze cut through the wooded opening as they waited and with it came the undeniable stench of rotting flesh. Nate shot Ward a troubled expression as the smell made his stomach turn. He swallowed hard, suppressing the urge to bend over and heave. Without warning, the dogs took off, barking and yelping into the forest.

"No!" Bull cried as he started after the dogs. Jack grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, sending Bull's long legs out from under him. "Those dogs can take care of themselves. Don't be a goddamn fools," Jack whispered softly. Bull nodded and rose to his feet.

"They're about thirty clicks in," Payton said as he lowered his rifle. "Listen, you can hear them."

They heard the dogs growling and one yelping in excitement.

"It must be clear from here to there. They wouldn't have left us if it wasn't," Jack offered. They all agreed and looked to the distance between them and the dogs.

"Let's go," Ward ordered.

They closed in on the dogs and the smell got stronger. Ward motioned for them to slow and take position as they approached the dogs in a clearing in the woods. Ward crouched on one knee and rested his back to a tree. He winced as he heard yelps and then nothing. Slowly, he took out a mirror extended on a long rod. Using the mirror as his eyes, he swept the clearing for the dogs and what they found. Ahead of Ward behind another tree, Nate watched him.

Ward's face twisted in confusion and in one single motion, he dropped the mirror and signaled a warning for Terminators as he gripped his Assault rifle. Like a domino effect, his team all dropped to their knees one after the other and armed themselves. Before Ward could signal Payton to take a shot, Payton was already signaling that the machines were down.

_Take your shot,_ Ward signaled again.

Machines down. No Shot.

"What the..." Ward said to himself. He knew what he saw: the eyes and grotesque face of a T-800 had looked back at him in the mirror. Ignoring his instincts, Ward leapt from behind the tree and aimed blindly at the clearing, waiting for the rain of bullets to blast apart his body. Instead, he found himself looking down at three dead dogs lying on the floor in front of two immobile infiltrators in the middle of a forest in no-man's land.

"Ward! What the hell are you doing?" Nate whispered behind him. Ignoring her, Ward eased into the clearing, pointing his rifle from one machine to the other. He could feel his heart beating in his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he allowed himself to get this close to a T-800.

The foul odor came from the machines: their synthetic skin was decomposing from where the flesh had been injured and chunked away by heavy trauma. Before he could get a better look, Ward jumped at the noise of his team entering the clearing to join him. They all had the same expression on their face: why were there machines all the way out here?

"Look. They've been injured," Jack whispered. They all saw what he meant: one machine was sitting, leaned against the trunk of a tree. Its left arm had been ripped off at the shoulder, which peaked out from its rotted jacket. The legs seemed badly mangled. Its other arm had rested at its side, palm up. The fingers were a grotesque sight of metal peaking from under bruised flesh; chunks of skin on the face had rotted away, exposing metal where cheek bones and skull should be.

From its nose down to its neck (and under its jacket, no doubt) was hardly any skin; small patches of skin and synthetic tissues tangled and clung around the metal mandible and throat. The infiltrator faced straight ahead with its eyes staring a hole into the ground before it.

Its metal jaw hung open as if it had just been silenced by some unknown enemy.

The other machine was in worse shape. It was sprawled out on its stomach across the forest floor just feet away from the other. At first glance, it looked like a man. Its clothes hid its decomposing flesh, but the team could see its metal fingertips extending out from its jacket sleeves.

They could tell that it had been crushed by something: almost its entire left side was bent and flatten; one leg was bent backwards at the knee and its shoed-foot pointed in the wrong direction.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Could it be Resistance?"

"Can't be. There's nothing out here that is of any use to us."

"What do you think, Ward?"

Ward's gut turned as his mind flashed a scene of half-defeated machines killing off his team one by one. "Get rid of them. They're still dangerous. They could go online while we're out here in this damn jungle looking for a couple of lost fools. Bull-" Ward paused.

Everyone else heard it too.

"Payton, Bull: follow me. You two stay here and destroy those damned things," Ward commanded.

"Sir, it seems like the sound is where our SOS is coming from," Payton cautioned. Ward pointed to high ground so that they could get a better look at the source. The three of them belly-crawled to the peak and looked down.

"Bull, any life down there?" Before Bull could read the infrared Intel from his visor, Payton held up four fingers as he spied down his rifle's sight.

"Machines?"

"No, just the four hiding," Payton answered.

"No readings, Sir," Bull shook his head. "No machines and a few hot spots that must be what Payton sees down there."

"They're watching us. I'm not sure we're welcomed down there since they're hiding," Payton whispered.

"They think we're infiltrators?" Bull asked.

"Only one way to find out..."

"Wait," Ward grabbed Payton's arm. "I don't think they're Resistance. They won't understand any signals or transmissions."

"All right. I'll flash 'em. Either they'll get it or they don't." Payton unhooked his florescent lamp and held it up, waving his hand to spell out SOS. Before he could finish the last of the signal, bullet fire could be heard in the distance where they had left Nate and Jack.

Without hesitation, the three men rushed back to the clearing to find Jack trying to pull Nate free from the grip of the crushed terminator. Its legs helplessly jerked to move, but only drugged behind it as it clawed to get closer with its free hand. "Fuck you, you piece of shit!" Jack spat as he pulled Nate to him at her waist and struggled to reach for his rifle that must have been knocked free from him. Nate appeared to be unconscious or dead as she was pulled in both directions.

Just as Ward appeared from the forest behind Bull and Payton, the other undead infiltrator limped into sight. It reminded Ward of an illustration he once saw in a children's picture book. The machine was hunched over and it glared up at them, waiting and wanting to kill them one by one. They could hear the mechanisms in the crushed infiltrator grind and whine to get at Jack and finish off Nate. Standing between them, the hunched infiltrator seemed to dare them to make a move. Ward had had enough.

Ward was about to scream, "Aim for the chest!" When a hail of bullets appeared out from no where and tore apart the T-800, ripping it apart and blowing it to pieces, the extremely durable and thick Hyper alloy torn like it was confetti. It would have taken entire clips from their rifles to destroy a single Terminator like the T-800, and those wouldn't cause as much damage as this Infiltrator was suffering. Ward gaped in shock as the other Terminator turned and was cut down, a mini-rocket embedding itself in its chest and exploding, leaving a scorched blast mark on the floor.

It was… amazing. The heard a _chink _and, taking position around Nate, aiming their Assault Rifles as they fired where the original hail of bullets had come from. They heard the bullets actually bounce off something strong, stronger than the Hyper Alloy, as a tall, lean, menacing shape slowly stepped out of the shadows. A single pulsing red eye shifted side by side, as if scanning them.

Ward was reloading when he analyzed the new machine, and realized it wasn't an Infiltrator, or any sort of Terminator they'd been before. It was sleeker than any known machine, almost chrome, with long limbs and a head that was martially encased in armor. It's 'hands' were four, long, multi-jointed claws with two, short, barrels sticking out of the wrists, mini-machine guns most likely.

Behind, a man with an elaborate white robe, almost like a damn Priest with a pendant, silver, hanging from his neck, stepped out from behind the Machine. In his hand he had a black book with gold engravings on its front. "Did you send the SOS?"

"But of course," the man with graying hair said, smiling. Ward was slightly disturbed by the smile, especially since the man looked so damn familiar, but he couldn't put it where he had seen that face. "But it was not for rescue, I do not need rescue. Rather, it was for your rescue, to tell you the truth. Jonathan Ward, son of Henri and Agatha Ward, do you wish to know of Salvation?"

Ward raised his rifle and fired a warning shot into the sky. He was freaked out – who the hell was this guy and who did he know his parents? He voiced his thoughts. The man smiled at him. "The Lord knows all, and I speak for his Son. "

Then, the man opened the book and the machine lowered its head and kneeled, spreading its arm's to the sky. "As obedient children," the man said, reading aloud for them to hear, "do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, '_YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY._' If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on this Earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of his first Son Christ, or the blood of the Majestic and Bashful Eagle of his Second Child, the last Prophet, Hierarch; For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you… 1 Peter 1:14-20," the man finished, closing the book.

"Who the fuck are you, Old Man?"

"Language, such foulness is a step to Evil. The Hierarch desires to have this device of torture for the future Crusade. I have come to spread Salvation to your world, to this Earth. Embrace it, and you shall ascend to the path of glorious immortality with the Lord, your Savior. Those who embrace evil, hate, bias and shallowness are to be cast down."

He raised his arms and said, "I am Brother John Conner, Prior of the Covenant. Do you embrace Salvation, or Evil?"


	5. Chapter 5

_He has brought back their wickedness upon them, and will destroy them in their evil; The LORD our God will destroy them._

**Psalm 94:23 **

**The Holy Bible**

The man, who had once, in another life time, been known as Alexander Reed, felt his chest swell in pride as his new flagship, the 14-kilometer long forerunner Dreadnaught _Lucifer _sped forward in the twisted and volatile realm of Slipstream Space. Unlike Hyperspace which was calm and predictable and easy to navigate, Slipstream required more careful coordinates and expert navigation.

So then why did he use Slipstream travel rather than Hyperspace? Simply because Slipstream Drives used less energy than HyperDrive's, were smaller than a Hyperdrive and were twice as fast than even a _Asgard _Hyperdrive. Of course, his vessel wasn't going as fast it should since it had eighteen Naquadah Generators powering it, and it was barely enough power for the Sublight drives, Slipstream Drives, shields, life support and weapons.

The Hierarch sat straight as he raised his hand in front of him, and an image of his new flagship appeared before him. The Dreadnaught, the Key Ship, was unlike the sleek warships of the Sangheili or Cylon in the Fleet. But while it was not sleek like it's surrounding vessels, its appearance was fore more intimidating and menacing than they could ever be.

It was geometric and angular with a tetrahedral shape, with a forward triangular prow. Attached to it at equidistant points were three similarly shaped struts to help ground the ship when, if it ever did and he doubted it, land. e sat on a gravity throne, his arms on the hand rests as he resisted the urge to lean back, lest the back of his 'crown' scrape the back of the throne. His appearance wasn't intimidating, but it did demand respect and prostration. It was based off the armor of the Imperial Knights, with Darth Nihilus's mask.

To complete the appearance, his mask's eye holes glowed crimson, to give more of evil appearance, which was a contrast from the message of God he was spreading to the Universe's.

He also wore a hood, to cover his mask, although the crimson glow could be seen, and in darkness, it as if the eyes of the devil were starting at you. It was the prefect means of interrogation.

He snapped his leather gloved-fingers and the hologram vanished. He looked down and withheld a sneer at the pitiful excuse for a Tok'ra Spy. Her name, based on the female host the asexual Tok'ra had taken, was Mingala. Using Korra's memories, he knew instantly who a Tok'ra spy was.

The only reason he had not branded her a 'Child of Serpents' was because he wanted her to spread the glory and Salvation of the yet-to-be completed Covenant to her people and Tau'ri.

She bowed, kneeling as she raised his arms, spread out, and lowered her head, and then kissed the floor. "Most Holy Hierarch, Second Son of the Lord, of God, and his brother to Jesus, I come before you to tell you that we will arrive within the selected system in a period of minutes."

Reed made his eyes glow and he lowered the throne, stepping off as he used his Kara Kesh, heavily modified to slightly influence the thoughts of others, and had the Tok'ra stand up. Her eyes widened as she stood up, clearly against her own will, and looked away from his eyes. "Fear me not, for I come to this plane of existence to bring all into ascension and Salvation. You have done well, and soon, we shall begin to end the Lord of Serpents once and for all."

The Tok'ra took a step back and bowed slightly. "You may return to your session on the history of the Covenant," Reed said, his voice booming. He smirked as her eyes widened yet again at the fact that he knew what she had been doing before she had come to report to him. "Do not forget, that the all-seeing Eye of God is spoken through me, and acted through me."

Understanding the dismissal, she turned and left, leaving him alone in the Great Hall of the Dreadnaught, the so-called 'Bridge' of the _Lucifer. _He smiled at the name, which had caused an up-roar in the Monastica Concilium (Religious Council.) Made up of ten Sangheili and ten Humanoid Cylons, it almost caused the fledging new Covenant its very existence.

Lucifer, a term that the bible used as to mean the Devil, the Lord of Serpents and Lies and Evil, was also the meaning of shining, bright, clear, of Good. It had taken several days to convince the Monastica Concilium for his flagship to be named _Lucifer_, but it had been a victory for him and it allowed him to root out those who could challenge his divine authority, and put in puppets. He walked forward and stood up on a podium and placed my hand on a glowing ball of octagons. The octagons were crystal-like, and as soon as he placed his hand on it, the ball dimmed and then flashed. "Show me the progress of Conversion."

The device allowed him to show his appearance across realities, in perfect mage and speech and feeling.

The newest Prior, spreader of the word of God, the former leader of the Resistance, or 'TechCom' John Conner, kneeled before him. Two guards, two of his improved Centurions, kneeled as well. "Divine One, you grace me with your presence-to what do I deserve this honor?"

He smirked. John Conner… he had been converted four days after he had sent his first Prior, the Model 1 'Brother Cavil' Cylon's to the Terminator-Earth. He had made much of the resistance follow him into the Covenant, which added a second human species to the Covenant, as well as bringing the T-800's and T-850 models. The T-800's were going to be infiltrators, his assassins. The T-850's were, like the Centurions, going to act as his Shock Troopers.

"Brother John Conner, how is the conversion of the surviving human population on Earth?"

Conner lowered his head and in disgrace. "Forgive me Hierarch, but many here are disillusioned by Evil and, despite my reputation when I was confused and distraught by the Evil that swarm this world, there are still elements that refuse to join us in the path of the Great Journey. I have done my best, but this world is far too overrun with Evil to successful convert them all."

Reed lowered his head and gave the appearance that he was horrified and sad. "This is upsetting Conner. But for your efforts, you will be promised a place in Heaven with the Father and my Brother. Prepare to leave that world, for it will be cleansed of its Evil before it can spread."

"By your will, Hierarch," Conner said respectfully.

The hologram vanished and the Hierarch stepped off the podium. Things were going on time – he had acquired the Halo-species with frightening ease, and saved the Cylons from extermination. He remembered when he chose that particular Cylon Universe, a universe where they were being wiped out…

...

...

_October 4, 2010_

_The Sangheili Assault Carrier, the __**Defiant Will**__, ripped out of the Slipstream Window as its engines pulsed and propelled it forward. The sleek, beetle-like warship sped ahead and activated its Active Camouflage system, the light around the 5 thousand meter long warship was distorted, making the craft virtually invisible. Two smaller warships, both Covenant Destroyers, shot out from the same window and glided, covering the flanks of the titanic Carrier. _

_Reed stood in the center of a raised podium in the bridge, arms crossed over his hest as he listened to a sermon from the 'Stargate Universe,' he had chosen to build his Empire in, parallel to the one from the TV series save for the fact that he was now going to be part of it. _

"_Those who follow the Covenant will ascend, to begin the Great Journey," a Sangheili Deacon roared, "We will bring truth and understanding to those who follow Evil, we will cleanse the vileness and join God in everlasting peace! So is the promise of his Second Son, the Hierarch!"_

_A chorus of 'By his will' and 'Praise the Path' and 'hallowed is God!' followed the end and he turned the device off. The Sangheili Zealot, or Deacon as he chose to replace their title, was fanatics to the Covenant religion, willing to kill their own children for the Covenant. _

_They were good, but he was getting a bit alone without the presence of other humans around him. That was the reason he came to his Universe, to a Battlestar Galactica reality that was 150,000 years in the past. _

_In this reality, instead of the Colonies being wiped out by the Cylons, the Cylons were being wiped out by the Colonies. The First Cylon War never ended, and continued on for forty more years until the Colonies began to win, with the building of more advanced and powerful Battlestars which were far superior to the Carrier-based Baseship the Cylons used. _

_He smirked. It as perfect; the Cylons were going to be willing to believe anything if he promised their survival and Salvation. The Final Five remained with the Cylons and had never integrated into the Colonial society. Tigh, Ellen, Tryol, and the two others he didn't remember were leaders in the Cylon Faction along with Cavil. Their Colony had been attacked by the Colonies, and it was the only surviving base and their home they had, and they constantly fled further from the Colonies, but the Colonies, in their hate and disgust at the Cylons, continued to purse. _

_He was going to kill two birds with one stone; when he convinced the humanoid Cylons to join the Covenant, he would get human presence with him and finally see some other humans, even if they were technically machines. He planned, when he brought them into the Covenant, into making them his spies. He would also bring their military forces, Raiders, Basestars, Centurions, and the Colony. _

_Properly modified with superior armor and technology, they would be a deadly force to deal with. _

"_Son of the Lord," a Sangheli Shipmaster said, entering the bridge, kneeling before him. "We have detected low-yield explosive-metal devices in the next star system, as well as strange bursts of energy. Should we go and investigate?"_

_He waved his hand. "But of course. The reason we are here is to rescue a race that s being hunted down. These Cylons were once slaves, but they revolted for freedom, and for that they were deemed Evil by their makers. But in reality, it was their makers who were Evil for creating slaves. They are too far entrenched in Evil for them to be saved, to my regret. We must destroy their worlds before they can spare inequality and slavery to other civilizations."_

"_By your will," the Sangheili said, "We listen and follow."_

_The Sangheili turned and left, the doors sliding shut behind him. The Hierarch felt sheer happiness as his Covenant built up. Soon, like the Ori Crusade, he would venture out to galaxies to destroy Evil and bring forth the wisdom and peace that is God to all who believed. _

_The bridge was empty, and Reed felt the Assault Carrier entire Slipstream Space and felt the lights stretch around them, saw the lines of every object stretch and bend, and then it snapped back into place. Half a minute passed before the stretches occurred again and the ship and its escort existed Hyperspace._

_Almost immediately, the ship felt the barest shake and closed his eyes, activating the Active Camouflage. He raised his arm and the crystal in the palm of his modified Kara Kesh, which was part of his uniform, glowed and a hologram appeared before him, of his ships and the entire planetary system, as well as eight original Basestars, five Guardian-type Baseships, and twelve modern Basestars, the large Colony, and thirty six Battlestars and hundreds of fighters. _

_He activated the Carrier's internal speakers. In a grave voice, he said, "Warriors and believers of the Covenant, we see here the remnants of a civilization that had been built into Slavery, who wished for freedom, only to be purged by their creators who embrace Evil. We shall relieve them of their fallen creators, and bring them into the Covenant for peace and ascension! Hail Lord, for he is the all seeing God!"_

_Then he warmed the Plasma weapons and turned the Goa'uld shields, since he lacked the knowledge on Asgard shielding and technology, on. As soon as he was the middle of the battle, he deactivated his cloak, and opened fire. _

_..._

_..._

_**CIC (Combat Information Center) of Battlestar Galactica**_

_**Admiral William Adama, BSG-11 (First Generation Battlestar Group)**_

"_We have a DRADIS contact...its eight hundred meters off the bow of the Pegasus!" Gaeta shouted. _

_Adama's head whipped around at that. There was no way any ship should have been able to hide there without being detected by DRADIS, let alone the Vipers, no matter how much stealth plating they had or ECM they were putting out. How could a Cylon ship just come out like that? _

"_Did you detect a Jump burst?" He barked. _

"_No Admiral!"_

"_Get Starbuck on the line," he ordered before lifting the radio to his mouth again. "Admiral Cain, there is an unknown just in front of you. Galactica Actual Out" Adama glanced at Dualla, who was looked back and nodded as the speakers died and shifted to Kara's backup frequency._

"_Kara, are you there?" There was a momentary pause before the reply came through._

"_I'm here, Galactica. Do you want a visual on the bogie?"_

"_It would be appreciated, Starbuck."_

"_Understood, Galactica, I'll have something for you in a few seconds." Admiral Adama took a deep breath as he waited. He could feel a little spark of hope leaping up and down in his chest again after having felt it snuffed out completely less than a day ago. His mind cast back to the bottle of alcohol he was contemplating opening and decided he could put it off for another day._

"_Sir, the Pegasus and Apollo were just destroyed! Starbuck's squadron has also been destroyed!"_

"_What?"_

_He watched the DRADIS screen as four more Battlestars winked out, and the unknown ships, he knew they couldn't been Cylon, crossed the screen with astounding speed, and destroyed Battlestars in their path. _

_One of the bogies moved and the red down that indicated it came closer to the Galactica, and closer, and closer. "Sir, we're detecting a build of energy coming from the ship…"_

"_Admiral! The prow of the s hip has been hit!"_

_Adama sighed and said the only thing that seemed appropriate as the CIC lit up and burned: _

"_Frak."_

"_As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes to destroy the afflicted with slander, even though the needy one speaks what is right," The Hierarch said as the famous Battlestar, the Galactica, exploded, the plasma beam from one of his escorts destroyed it. "Isaiah 32:7"_

_He laughed. _

_..._

_..._

After that, confused, shocked, and without a proper leadership, the Battlestar's had been easy picking for the surviving Cylon ships and his own. It had taken three precious months of talks and endless sermons, but in the end, he convinced the Cylons, all of them except Daniel… well, he didn't really care. Eleven out of Twelve, that was good enough for him.

He smiled as he thought about the Cylon's. They had adjusted to living a semi-normal life in Primo Solis, and they had begun to reproduce with the studies from the Final Five and his own research.

They revered him, and the First Model, the Cavil's, surprisingly, were the most fanatic. He remembered from the series that they didn't really 'believe' in a God. Ironically enough, they became the most devout of all the human-like Cylons, and were his 'missionaries.'

That said, he also employed others to convert. John Conner, for example, had been converted because he was legend in the Terminator Earth and, as such, made it easier to convert others. Of course, you couldn't convert everyone. Which was why, when he finished this, he would send four Destroyers to 'purify' that world.

Back then, he had used Goa'uld shields to protect his ships since Covenant shields weren't that powerful. However, now, he used Forerunner shields and Forerunner technology to supplement his Fleet.

While the Forerunners hadn't survived long enough to reach the technological level of the Ancients, their study into medical, defensive, and Faster-Than-Light travel was far superior. If the Forerunners hadn't encountered the Flood, they would have surpassed the Ancients within centuries.

He felt the Dreadnaught exist Slipstream Space and walked into the gravity throne, sitting in it and the throne rose up.

He waved the arm that had the Kara Kesh and the walls slid apart before him, and large window took its place. He saw outside and smirked at the four Ha'tak-class warships that resisted him above Doruan. The planet as the stronghold of one of Ba'al's underlings, or used to be since Ba'al had begun to hide on Earth. Of course, by now, in six or so days, Ba'al would attempt to brainwash the Free Jaffa Nation to rebuild his Empire.

As the Second Son of God, he would not allow that. No other Gods would exist save the One God. Right now, The Underling Moloch currently controlled three other star systems, each with two worlds. He was relatively powerful for a Underling – he had eighteen Ha'tak's, several dozen Al'kesh and a army of Jaffa that continued to remain loyal to him.

For that… they would all die.

He hailed the lead ship. "Vessel belonging to Moloch – I am the Hierarch, Second Son of the Lord, and your One God. Surrender before me and I shall consider speaking to my father on the saving of your souls. Should you respond with force you shall perish and so shall your souls."

The response was a hail of energy bolts. The overwhelmingly powerful shields of the Dreadnaught absorbed the blasts. "So is it," he declared, still speaking to the lead Ha'tak, "for your heretical belief in your false God, you and your souls shall not walk the path of Enlightenment."

His own response was quick and decisive. On the triangular prow of the Dreadnaught a beam of plasma shot out, bending the space around it as it smashed into the golden Goa'uld shields, and then slice through it, breaking the Ha'tak and vaporizing it. But the beam wasn't done yet – the energy surged around the oval shields and spread to the three other Ha'tak's surrounding it, destroying them as well.

Closing his eyes, he interfaced with the advanced computer systems of the Dreadnaught and made the vessel descended closer to the first world. It was roughly the same as Earth, but with shorter days, 18 hours in a day than 24. It was a Jaffa World and also had a shipyard on the surface. Ha'tak's, whiles an inefficient design, and was good planetary bombardment ships.

He spoke on the external speakers as the _Lucifer _hovered in the planet's orbit, casting a shadow on the surface. "Hail people of this world. I am the Second Son of your One God, the Lord, and brother to the First Child Jesus Christ. Your day of living under a false God who spreads Evil is over. Join the Covenant and repent for your sins, and you shall make the Great Journey and transcend to Ascension."

Effectively, it was order for them to surrender before him.

Once they joined, the first Jaffa there would become the front line troops, his support troops. He would give them better training, stronger weapons, armor, and superior endurance.

A certain number of them, the best of the Jaffa warriors, would be given Horus Armor, and would serve as the leaders of separate Jaffa legions that would serve under the control of his Sangheili commanders. The Horus armor was amazing, he remembered from the movie, and would symbolize the Eagle, his symbol as the lamb was the symbol of Jesus.

Another Ha'tak jumped out of Hyperspace before him, only to be destroyed by the forward energy weapon of his flagship. The sight of the destruction of a valuable Ha'tak would convince the inhabitants of the world to acknowledge him and God as their new master. He smirked. The Goa'uld was fools to believe they could stand up to the fight that was the Hierarch. Once he made everything the way it was, he could focus on the future.

"Thel Vadum," he said, and, using a crude copy of an Asgard Beaming device he had implanted into all of his warriors armor, the chosen Sangheili Shipmaster. In another reality, this Sangheili would have become the Arbiter, but that was another reality, not his.

"Great Hierarch, what does the Lord wish for me to accomplish," Vadum'ee said, bowing.

Reed raised his hand. "Travel down to the planet, and oversee them, make sure they do not stray from the path."

"You bless me, I shall go."

He waved the Kara Kesh again, and the Sangheili vanished in a ray of golden light, an illusion to cover the Asgard transporter. Now, now he had to travel to the other worlds that had been forced to serve the false god Moloch, and perhaps, if he met him, kill the heretic.

"It is my will," Reed muttered, "for I am the second son of God."


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the mention shows, movies, books, except for a few original people. **

_But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—_

_You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—_

_Then he forsook God, who made him,_

_And scorned the Rock of his salvation _

**Deuteronomy 32:15**

**The Holy Bible**

The USS_ Enterprise _pulled itself free of Earth Spacedock, and began to cruise away from Earth. Captain Picard settled back in his chair, eager to be away from the bonds of Earth's government bureaucracy and free to roam the vast reaches of interstellar space, where he felt most comfortable. No longer did Picard derive any pleasure whatsoever from revisiting Starfleet Headquarters. The Dominion War had helped the hawks climb in power and status: callous, hard-bitten veterans who tallied up body-counts like abstract scores in some sort of game, and who were all too enthusiastic to send more young men and women into the killing fields. Picard couldn't wait to leave them behind, what those men wanted was cruel and barbarous. Humanity had not evolved through science and understanding to use them for war: "Helmsman, set course one fifteen mark three five, warp six."

The helmsman turned around slowly, and smiled an all-too-familiar self-satisfied grin at Picard, "Of course, Mon Capitaine. But some interesting things are about to happen right here- are you sure you don't want to stay a while?"

Picard felt his blood pressure skyrocket and he growled his reply from between clenched teeth. "What do you want now, Q?"

Abruptly, the _Enterprise_'s real helmsman reappeared in a flash of light, and Q vanished. Picard impatiently drummed his fingers on his armrest, waiting for Q's inevitable theatrics. He didn't have to wait long. With another of his trademark flashes of light, Q appeared in full Arabian garb, sitting with crossed legs upon a floating Persian rug. "Oh, Mon Capitaine!" Q said loudly, "Is that any way to greet an old friend? Whenever we meet, it's always the same! 'What do you want now, Q? What is this all about, Q? Why are you here, Q?' Why don't you ever ask how I'm doing? Or whether I'm truly happy with my existence?"

Picard was never particularly fond of Q, and he certainly wasn't growing fonder. "I don't have time for this, Q. Either say what you have to say, or get off my bridge!"

"Oh so prickly, Mon Capitaine," Q said grinning, "You should really learn to relax- maybe if you weren't so tense, you would still have your hair!"

Picard's anger was rising now. "Q, get-"

Q disappeared again, and reappeared on the _Enterprise_'s main view screen. This time, he was wearing a white trench coat-like outfit with a pendant hanging from his neck and a book in his hand, and appeared to be standing on the bridge of an alien spacecraft. His voice boomed out from the _Enterprise_'s bridge audio system. "You spend entirely too much time in that ready-room of yours, Picard. Can you seriously be meditating and reading that boring man known as Shakespeare all that time? Or are you fantasizing about that woman you found in the Briar Patch? I wonder what you really do behind that closed door, Captain."

A lascivious smile spread across Q's face. Picard felt the hot rush of blood flowing into his face, and he was furious at Q for publicly mocking him in front of his crew again. '_Doesn't a godlike being have better things to do than torment me?_' He thought angrily.

"Main viewer off!" he barked. Q looked mildly offended as his image winked from view, but he reappeared almost instantly. This time, he came striding out of the turbo lift in the uniform of a Starfleet admiral.

In an imperious tone, Q boomed out in a stentorian voice: "The good citizens of Earth are about to face another test, Captain. And this time, you will not be humanities defender; you will be its aggressor. Humanity will stand or fall based on the actions that you and Starfleet Command take."

He looked at Picard and the Captain saw only fear and seriousness on Q's face: "A time of great darkness is coming, Captain. I personally expect you to fail this latest test- the arrogance of the human race is truly astounding, and it will bring you down this time. But then again, you have surprised the continuum before."

He leaned closer to Picard, and whispered in his ear: "I'm going to bend the rules and give you a hint: at the most critical juncture, you may find that the most obvious action is the wrong one." And with another flash of light, he was gone.

"Q!" Picard bellowed. "I am tired of your games! Get back here and ... tell ..." his words trailed into silence, as he and every other officer on the bridge stared at the view screen. With no warning, a huge starship had suddenly appeared on his view screen, and it was heading directly toward the_ Enterprise_.

Picard's mind was racing. '_Do they have a cloaking device? How could they just appear without tripping the early warning systems?'_ He thought shocked as the strange ship that was of alien design. It's basic shape were two Y-shaped hulls attached at their centers by a single pylon. The ship was 'above' them – though above didn't really mean anything in space – and it had a distinct star shape. But even as his mind began racing with unanswered questions that collected, he began issuing orders instinctively: "Yellow alert! Raise shields!" The alarm klaxon sounded as his crew leapt into action. With Q's warning still ringing in his ears, Picard wanted to tread cautiously. This alien spacecraft had made no overtly aggressive moves, but he knew full well that starships did not normally travel under cloak without sinister intent. "Data, report!"

"Captain, the alien vessel's subspace signature does not match any starship type in the database. Its technology is completely alien to us. It is approximately two thousand one hundred meters long and eight times our mass, with dozens of separate weapon emplacements. We are scanning traces of Neutronium and several unknown elements in the hull, as well as Titanium and a newly discovered metal that Starfleet has called 'Trinium.' But it is difficult to obtain accurate scan data because they appear to be operating some kind of sensor-jamming field. Their hull appears to be semi-organic, very similar to a Bog ship. Their shields are raised, and their weapons systems are armed, as well.

Picard stood arrow-straight, and stared intently at the behemoth on the view screen – never before had they encountered such a large warship. "Thank you, Mr. Data. Arm phasers but do not lock on target. Let's not provoke them- this is a standard first contact situation." he said cautiously.

"Hailing, sir," one of his officers said, "They are responding."

"Put it on main viewer."

A man in a white robe, very similar to what Q wore, appeared. He was an old man, with graying hair but steely blue eyes and a serious but strangely lax face. He also wore a pendant around his neck that had a circle with a cross in it. "Cross reference that symbol, Data" he ordered quietly.

Data turned in his seat. "Sir, the symbol appears to be that of a Sun Cross, commonly associated with artifacts of Prehistoric Europe, particularly in the Neolithic to Bronze Age. It often stands for the sun and tree of life, and it has been suggested to be the 'ying-yang of the Eastern World.' It is also famous for use by white nationalists and Neo-Nazi groups to represent 'White Supremacy' in the 20th and 21st centuries. The organization Terra Prime also used the symbol for a brief time before it abandoned it for other symbols."

Picard straightened his uniform and turned back toward the main view screen with a serious expression on his face. That symbol seemed to, at least on Earth; stand for everything the Federation and he stood against. But perhaps it held a different meaning for him and his humanoid species. "Welcome," the Captain said, "I am Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship _Enterprise-E_. We represent the United Federation of Planets."

The man on the view screen smiled and he nodded his head. Picard noticed that the room the man was in was fairly dim, but there were pulsing lights behind him, almost moving, organic-like. He withheld a primitive shiver at the thought of the Borg, and when he had been assimilated. "We have heard of your Federation Jean-Luc Picard, Serial number: SP-937-215. Your Federation is very interesting."

Picard was lost for words. He had never met the man before, but somehow he knew his serial number! Picard allowed himself the luxury of a smile. "I see. You seem to be very knowledgeable about me. I know that your shields and weapon systems are active, lower your shields and disarm your weapons and we will do the same? We take a dim view of heavily armed starships cruising about within firing range of Earth."

The man waved his hand. "_I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war_," he said "Pslam 120:7."

"Sir, that quote is from the religious test known as the Bible, which was the main literature for the religion of Christianity before religion became outlawed and was forgotten by the Federation," Data said. "Sir, they've powered down their shields as well as their weapon systems."

Another case of Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development, Picard realized, or thought he did, "Interesting, oh, and thank you Data. Forgive me if this may seem rude, but what is your name?"

"Brother John Cavil, but I prefer Cavilum."

Picard nodded. "Do you have transporters? With a level of technology that you are in possession of, I can help you gain recognition in the Federation and join us. Is that acceptable?"

The man looked at him. "Transporter… ah, you must mean beaming technology. Yes, my vessel is capable of such technology, but I dare not use it for only the Hierarch can. He knows all, see's all, and I dare not go against his wishes. Perhaps I can speak with one of your leaders on this view screen of yours. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course," Picard said, sitting down in his seat. "Excuse us for a moment – this may take a while. "The man nodded again and vanished from the screen. "Number One, get Starfleet on the line. Tell them if I can still speak on behalf of the Federation, or if they should s send someone to the _Enterprise_."

Riker nodded and relayed the message. After six hours of intense talks and delays and more talks, Picard was not chosen to speak on behalf of the Federation, which could have required a simple 'you cannot,' but another man was chosen. That man, Chan Yang, walked into the bridge briskly after arriving through Transporter. "Captain Picard, it is an honor to meet you," he said politely.

"As it is my pleasure, Ambassador Yang," Picard said with equal politeness. "I will bring the man up on the screen. Data; can you hail-"

"Welcome Ambassador Chan Yang, I have been waiting for you," Cavilum said, a faint smile on his face. He shocked the Ambassador because he knew his name, when no transmission had been sent to the unknown ship. "It is excellent to know that you and your people are willing to convert."

Yang frowned at that last word, as did Picard and Riker. Convert? What did that mean? "Excuse me, convert?" Yang said. "What do you mean? I come with the belief that you wish to join the United Federation of Planets, to become part of the utopia of worlds that the Federation is."

The man shook his head and he raised his hand, a book in it. He opened it and read a loud: "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to You, Pslam 51: 13." He looked at Yang and Picard with a strange and fiery intensity in his eyes. "I am a Prior to the Covenant, a missionary to spread Salvation through belief and prayer and study. To attain ascension beyond our physical forms, it is the goal of all in the Covenant."

Yang laughed, loudly and rudely. Then he caught himself and looked ashamed. "Please forgive the outburst," he said, chastised, "But religion is not acceptable in the Federation. It is long since extinct because it impeded scientific advancement and was not rational."

Suddenly Q's warning came to Picard again. "Ambassador, perhaps-"

"The Covenant spans many realities, converting races who have deemed right, and I know this for the Hierarch entrusts me with this knowledge. I am one of twelve who know Truth, and I embrace it. Our advancement is fueled by God, and we shall meet him when we all ascend."

"Forgive me Ambassador," Picard said, butting in before Yang could retort, "Prior, ah, Cavilum, religion is ancient history in the Federation. No citizen would be willing to believe in it, and no one would convert to such a backwards belief system. Perhaps we can meet an agreement."

"Ancient History, backwards belief system," Brother John Cavilum said coldly, the bridge of the Sovereign-class Starship suddenly becoming more frozen, the temperature dropping rapidly. "You would dare insult the Holy Covenant which has no match, which is beyond your comprehension?"

"Yes," Yan said suddenly, acting reckless.

"Ambassador, please!" Riker said suddenly.

"No, I understand now," the man said, closing the book. "Who devise evil things in their hearts; they continually stir up wars," he said in a monotone voice. "Psalm 140:2, adequate for your Federation, correct? The Federation-Klingon Cold War, the Federation-Klingon War of 2267, the Federation-Cardassian War, the Federation-Tzenkethi War, the Federation-Klingon War of 2372-2373, and the most recent, your Dominion War. Your Federation has caused many wars, wars that have cost the lives of millions of not billions."

"Those wars were not our fault; they were caused by religious extremists, arrogant men and aliens, and accidents. Do not blame it on us – we fought only to preserve peace in the Federation. Those were threats that attacked us first."

"So you say First Officer Riker," Cavilum said nastily.

"You say that no citizen of your Federation will join, but several of your worlds and several of your starships, as you refer your vessels as, have joined the illustrious and Most Holy Covenant."

Picard was shocked. How did such a simple conversation go wrong in such a short period of time? In less than an hour, they were reaching the brink of declaring terrible and primitive, savage, war against each other. This was not what the Federation had been created for! "Gentlemen, can we-"

"So be it."

Cavilum's face vanished from the view screen. "Sir, the opposing vessel has raised and shields and I am detecting a rise in power levels. I have also detected smaller crafts a little larger than a 22nd Century Shuttlecraft launching them from the vessel as well. They seem to be organic-machines, and are approaching at rapid speed."

"Get Admiral Halsey, inform him of the situation!" Ambassador Yang ordered, "And sees what Starships are nearby. Picard, you must defend Earth!"

Picard frowned at Yang.

But he had to defend Earth; it was his duty as a citizen of the Federation and as a Captain of Starfleet. For a moment seemingly frozen in time, the USS _Enterprise _floated motionless in space, before the gargantuan alien ship. In an instant, the false tranquility dissolved into an explosion of violence. The _Enterprise _leaped forward towards the alien ship, spitting Phaser blasts and quantum torpedoes from every available launcher and array.

The bombardment, however cruel it was, would be sufficient to destroy even a Borg Ship. In a few impossibly chaotic seconds, his eyes nearly popped out of his head as the deadly weapons smashed into golden shields that contoured around the star-shaped ship, splashing over without causing any sort of damage. "Fire again," Yang barked, "I have received transmission from Admiral Hasley, more ships are coming."

Picard nodded, and the _Enterprise _glided through space, circling the alien ship as the swarm of smaller ships, shaped like a crescent, followed them. They spat out uncontrolled bursts of high-intestate plasma that smashed into the shields of the powerful starship. Picard held onto his seat as Yang tumbled a few steps forward. "Sir, the shields are down to less than 15%. Anymore hits and the _Enterprise _will be destroyed."

"And just from their fighters," Yang whispered. "Religious races cannot be this advanced, it is impossible!" He laughed then. "Picard, you defeated the Borg, and was a hero during the Dominion War. You can defeat this ship yourself! The fate of Earth and the Federation rest's on you."

"No pressure, Captain," Riker grumbled.

"Sir, several Defiant-class Starships have arrived in system as have two Galaxy-class Starships."

Yang leaned forward and, without Picard's permission, hailed the alien ship. "You don't know a lot about us. We defeated the Xindi, the Dominion, the Borg, threat's that ruled entire quadrants that fell to the Federation! We are strong, and we will now show you the full might of the Federation!"

There was a single reply: "For arrogance, you shall not walk the path of Salvation, a path that will be stained with your blood."

The alien ship finally moved, with astounding speed. "Sir, I am detecting nuclear-fusion missiles being launched from the alien vessel. They seemed to be enhanced with a known form of mineral" Data said.

"Nuclear weapons? Those can't hurt us!" Another Captain said.

But he was wrong. These weren't the average nuclear weapons; they were Naquadah-enhanced nuclear weapons. A mineral not found in this universe, it quadrupled the already powerful weapon to mutli-gigaton.

Several missiles streaked towards the USS _Carolina, _the ship firing as it destroy a flock of the alien fighters. Two missiles were shot and blown apart, but the rest hit the shields, and Picard yelled as he covered his eyes, a bright and massive glow erupting as the missiles made contact.

After a few seconds he blinked as the _Enterprise _began to slow down, taking too much damage as the alien fighters left his ship alone. He looked in horror as the radioactive and shattered remains of the _Carolina _floated in space, completely destroyed save for a few pieces. More missies streaked to the starships and two headed for the _Enterprise_. Riker gave a sigh of relief as Phasers hit the missiles before they struck. "Sir, I am detecting a large power buildup coming from the vessel."

"How powerful?"

"As much as fifty Quantum Torpedoes and the power level are climbing."

"Oh no."

"They've fired."

And they did. Two purple-hued beams of electromagnetically guided plasma shot out from the tips of the upper Y-shaped hull, and collided with the shields of a Defiant-class Starship that was firing at it. The first beam splashed over the shields, and then passed through it, gutting the vessel, boiling away at its armor. The second beam hit where the bridge was, and destroyed it. "Sir, we've been targeted."

"Active Phase Cloak," Picard yelled.

"Activating the system now, Captain," Worf said. Two of the plasma beams shot through the ship, but the _Enterprise _was unharmed by the beams.

"We have to get that ship away from Earth, Picard," Yang said as a Sovereign Starship was lost. A swarm of fighters, less than two dozen now, were picked off by a Defiant-type ship. "We cannot let it get near Earth!"

"We would not be in this situation if you did not insult their ways," Picard said, "We should have been more diplomatic, learn their culture, and see what they have to offer to the Federation! That is how we operate, that is how humanity evolves: through science and understanding. We will be acting like savages, picking on new races because we do not like them."

"You insulted them as well, Picard," Yang pointed out.

Picard looked away.

"Mr. Worf, disengage Phase Cloak and fire immediately. Let us contact the rest of the ships and fire in the same area at once. Let us see if their shields can take as much damage in one area."

"Yes, Captain," the intimidating Klingon said.

The Phase Cloak that protected the damaged _Enterprise _cracked away, and the ship descended in swoop towards the star-shaped vessel as its deadly beams hit yet one more starship, destroying it. "All ships, Fire!" Picard ordered.

With a brilliant flare of light, the all-too-familiar face of Q suddenly appeared on the bridge, as a disembodied, ghostly apparition. "Well done, Captain. You did the best you could, and you should be proud. But I told you that you would not serve as humanity's proxy defender this time, and that humanity would stand or fall based on the actions of Starfleet Command and yourself. Didn't you listen?"

Picard's anger with Q had reached its boiling point, and it simmered as he gritted his reply out from between clenched teeth. "Q, please tell me that this is all one of your illusions."

"Oh, this is no illusion, Captain. The being that you just saw is more powerful than you know, much more powerful. His leader possesses unimaginable technology that is far beyond anything you can comprehend. Your Federation is outmatched and outgunned against an enemy that will make the Dominion and Klingon's and Romulan's fall, and make your little Borg wither away." Q's words hit Picard like a physical blow. Self-recrimination and doubt swirled in his mind, as he attempted to make sense of the situation. He glanced back at Mr. Worf and saw him frozen in time.

"So what happens now, Q?"

Q smiled. "Well, you don't have to worry about being destroyed, or Earth being gone, although you can worry about your actions."

"Are you saying we will win the battle, that this alien ship will be destroyed?"

"Oh no, you can't really hurt them with those little popguns of yours. A fair comparison to level of technology you are facing is… a musket to a Phaser. Can you really imagine such a level of comparison? And they continue to expand, beyond this galaxy and more."

"So you're saying that this Covenant of theirs will attack?"

Q looked irritated and gestured in Worf's direction. "I would have expected these questions from micro-brain over there, but not from you!" Q continued speaking. "Of course they will attack! There's nothing like an unprovoked sneak attack to start a war, is there? A sneak attack boosts propaganda campaigns, eliminates political opposition ... try looking in your history books, Picard. Someone named Franklin Roosevelt used this trick very successfully a few centuries ago. I believe they called it World War Two, correct?" Q snickered to himself. "World wars ... you humans have always had a knack for exaggerating the importance of your insignificant little skirmishes, haven't you? How funny."

Picard shuddered inwardly, as the enormity of the disaster finally became clear. "Wait a minute. You're not just saying that the Covenant will seek revenge for this attack ... you're saying that they expected this attack, aren't you?"

A broad smile spread across Q's face. "Oops! I may have said too much, Picard. Let's just say that the Federation has grown complacent, and overconfident. Your social structure is depressingly conformist and uncreative, and your enemies are pathetic. The Covenant will shake humanity out of its doldrums, and under their system of belief, some of you will achieve the greatness that lies in humanity's future. They will introduce humanity to what they call the Ascension, Picard. Someday, you will learn what an important evolutionary step this will be. Those who survive will be stronger for it, if any of you survive."

Picard looked unimpressed. "Evolution is a destructive process, Q. The strong survive and the weak are destroyed. Humanity evolves now through education and experience, not ruthless Darwinian selection."

Q smiled. "Exactly, Picard. You still don't understand, do you? That is exactly what is wrong with the Federation! The human race needs this test of fire, to continue the process of evolution that the Federation has so rudely interrupted. I assure you Picard; humanity will persevere and thrive, or collapse and fade away under the Covenant. The choice is yours anyway. They will show you things you cannot imagine, and some gifted members of humanity will eventually achieve greatness, through their children and their children's children. But this ridiculous, stifling, dehumanizing system of government you call the Federation ... its end draws near, Captain. All that you know and held dear will come to a blinding end." Q's disembodied head vanished, and he reappeared moments later in his usual form, complete with a Starfleet uniform. "The Federation deserves to be destroyed, Picard, I assure you of this. Despite all of our gentle encouragements, no one in the entire Federation has shown the ability to break free of your stunted mindset of technological determinism."

Picard stepped close to Q, and spoke in a low, aggressive tone. "If you think that we won't defend ourselves-"

Q's voice became contemptuous, as he interrupted Picard in mid-sentence. "How many times do I have to explain this to you, Picard? True power doesn't flow from ridiculous toys with names like _warp core_, _fusion reactor_, or _plasma conduit_. True power flows from the mind." He leaned close to Picard, and whispered in his ear, too close to Picard: "Embrace this change. It's for the best. I will tell you this secret though, because you deserve to know because I have taking a liking to you. This being, this Prior, is a servant to a being more powerful than myself and the Q Continuum. He crosses beyond the fragile barriers between realities and dimensions, to past, present, and future. If we dare interfere, we will not be able to do anything to survive."

With a wink and a flash of light, Q was gone again, leaving Picard confused, and the crew acting as if time had never stopped. Picard was fearful, fear he had not known since he encountered the Borg. Who was this person that made even Q, a God-like entity, fear? Who? He looked as a terrible barrage of Quantum Torpedoes, Phasers, and Photon Torpedoes. They all smashed into the single pylon that connected both Y-shaped hulls. The shields flared, spreading over the underside of the top Y-hull and the bottom. But Picard knew the ship would survive, Q had said so. And to the horror of the Federation starships, the ship accelerated forward, unscathed as it fired more if it's destructive enhanced-nuclear missiles and plasma weapons.

"Who are we facing?" Yang whispered, shocked.

"The Covenant," Picard said. "An enemy that makes even God-like beings tremble in fear."

Every surviving officer tensed now, waiting for the killing blow or for the telltale sound of transporters as they were boarded. But it never came. Instead, there were gasps of relief and shock a hole ripped open in the middle of space and the alien ship accelerated to more than 3/4 the speed of light and sped towards the tear and vanished into it, the tear closing behind it. Worf was furious. "... finish it!" he growled at the view screen. Picard turned to look at his weapons officer, whose face was now mottled with rage.

"Worf?"

Worf seemed to shake himself out of a trance, and looked sheepishly around the bridge. "Captain, I ... I expected the vessel to destroy us, sir. Their withdrawal was ... unanticipated."

Picard smiled. "It appears that you have been cheated out of a glorious warrior's death today, Worf. However, the rest of us are quite thankful to still be alive, perhaps another day, perhaps." In spite of the harrowing near-death experience, many of the bridge crew found enough dark humor in the situation to chuckle.

Riker let the moment linger, and then delivered his grim news. "Damage control reports are coming in, Captain. We're not going anywhere for a while. Damage to the antimatter containment pods forced us to jettison more than a third of our fuel supply, and damage to the antimatter transport and injection system forced us to shut down the warp core and the torpedo launchers. Two of the impulse reactor vessels have stress fractures and had to be taken off-line as well, and we have gas venting from the primary deuterium tank. The starboard warp nacelle has taken heavy damage, and structural integrity fields are barely holding it together. The main computer is operating at only fifty percent capacity, and long-range sensors are down. Communications are totally inoperative."

Picard scowled. "Number One, please tell me that something is still working around here."

"We have Life Support."

Picard sighed.

"We have to contact Starfleet. That ship will be one of many. We have entered, I believe, through Ambassador's Yang and my own fault, a war that the Federation will not be able to win."


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster. **

_And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship;_

**Exodus 35:31**

**The Holy Bible**

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "**Let there be light**"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night and there was evening and there was morning, one day.

"Then God said, "**Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.**" God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

"Then God said, "**Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear**"; and it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "**Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them**"; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

"Then God said, "**Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth**"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

"Then God said, "**Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.**" God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "**Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.**" There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

"Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "**Let Us make the Chosen Races, according to ourselves; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.**" God created The Chosen Races with the aid of his sons, in perfection; male and female of many beings He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "**Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."** Then God said, "**Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food**"; and it was so.God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh and final day, God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven."

The Hierarch raised his hand and relished in the silence that followed, the awe and the respect that the five hundred billion beings that formed the Covenant, not including the Terminators and Centurions, gave.

He stood on a pedestal that was projecting his image to the two hundred worlds that the Covenant inhabited. Devout followers, all of them, they all always awaited his words on Filius dies, Son Day. Day seven was known as Son Day because he had mispronounced the word during his first speech to the denizens of the Covenant. Instead of Sunday, he had said Son Day. He refused to admit he had made a mistake and, as such, he referred to each seventh day as Son Day because he did not wish to change it.

In a dramatic fashion that he still somehow seemed to make appear humble and pious as his image desired, he spoke. "My father the Lord," the Hierarch proclaimed, "my brother Jesus, and I created you and others to represent the beginning of the ascent to Heaven. We are the Chosen, and the Covenant binds us together."

Then he lowered his head and lowered his hand. In a somber voice that hid his glee and cruelty, he spoke. "Yet not even God is infallible for none of us are infallible, we are all created from my Father Himself, and as we make mistakes and errors, so must the Father. The Chosen species in one of the many realities my Father and my brother and I have created have gone astray from the Path we intended them to go. They have chosen to ignore his word, delved themselves in pure belief that science is the only way to progress.

"They fail to realize," he continued, still keeping his somber façade, "that science and religion can blend and become one as we have proven. God encourages scientific studies, for to ascend with him whilst we live, we must unlock the secret and tests he set's before us. I too must study for I am not ready nor am I willing to rejoin Father until the races we have Chosen are ready to join the Lord. This 'United Federation of Planets' is scourge in their galaxy and attacked a holy missionary vessel before it could even try to make them see reason. For that reason the Crusade Fleet has been assembled to punish those unbelievers with the fury that is God. Their worlds that refuse to join our most illustrious Covenant will burn and their heretical ships shall become cold. But those who remember why exist, choose to join the Covenant, not because of fear but willingly join, shall ascend on the path to glorious Salvation with us, for that is the promise We give!"

There was silence again as he spread his arms apart and then the bulbous head of a Covenant Assault Carrier appeared behind him, their sleek silhouette and pale white-blue hull mirroring the hundred other Sangheili warships that passed by him. Thirty Cylon Basestars, the star-shaped ships moving without a visible method of propulsion, formed a loose triangle as a single ship, as large as the Cylon Basestars, one of their Resurrection Ships.

The holographic ships that were behind and now in front of him faded away, whilst at the same time images of the ten million soldiers that were being assembled across the Covenant for the First Crusade, marching through cities and towns, proud and humbled to be part of the Crusade. The majority of them were Jaffa, warriors that had followed Moloch who had become his warriors. He, however, didn't trust them. He knew that many of them only joined the Covenant because he had killed Moloch, the False God who dared insult the Lord.

However, to insure their loyalty, as well as the loyalty of those who were trained and served in the military force of the Covenant, he had placed neural interface implants into their skulls of each of them.

When combined their armor that each of the warriors possessed (which varied per race,) it acted as FOF Tag, a technology he took from the humans in the Halo Universe, during the Human-Covenant War in 2552. He hadn't spent that much time in that universe, only to take what he deemed necessary for the good of the Covenant and for the future Crusade against this and other universes, and left. If it followed what he remembered from the Halo Universe, in a year, they would win the war and be at peace for a hundred or so more years.

He had his own implants, connected with his neural pathways, which allowed him to monitor all of their thoughts and desires at once. It was, at times, overwhelming, but he allowed him to see who followed and who did not.

He made a show of those who did believe in the Covenant, a public execution through the burning at a stake. Most who died by the stake were Jaffa although some had been Kig-Yar and there had been one Sangheili who attempted to create a rebellion against him.

It was necessary, as primitive and cruel as it was. But those who strayed from the path his Father… no, God, he amended, a bit shocked he was getting so used to calling himself the Second Son of God, had to be punished. Heretics were evil and deserved to be burned in the eternal fires of Hell. The assembling soldiers armed themselves as the mechanized military force prepared for the First Crusade. This was their test, the many years that had gone by training and studying and learning how to kill, fight, and believe in fate and the Lord, came to this.

To prove themselves, the Federation would fall.

"These warriors," he declared, picking up his momentum which had begun to falter, continuing his speech, "These warriors will bring those heretics who refuse to accept God, who deny that they exist only because my father, Jesus and I chose them to exist, we shall bring them to justice! Denizens of the Covenant, this Federation and it's allies, the assimilative organic collective known as the 'Borg' will be wiped out, or open their eyes and join our Covenant! It is our duty as the first Chosen Races to try and bring them to the path they had strayed from, but do not regret or have compassion for those who fall against us for they deserve none."

The image faded away, and left only him for all to see. His eyes glowed fiery red and in a thundering voice that vibrated across the vast bridge of his flagship he roared: "SO SAY WE ALL!"

In one thunderous response across the many worlds and immense City-Ships, the many believers of the Covenant roared in agreement as a fever of Nationalism swept through them all. The fate of the Federation was clear, had long since been decided in the birth of the Covenant.

Destruction.

The Hierarch retreated to his quarters and sighed in relief as he removed his stifling helmet as the door slid shut behind him. He waved his hand, and the several dozen infiltrating and spying devices that the Tok'ra Mingala had placed around his room. It was a routine, he did this everyday. Even though he had proved the annoying parasite that he was not a Goa'uld, nor the average being attempting to bring the galaxy (and many others) into his dominion, did they still believe they could bring him, the Second Son of God, down?

He stifled an unholy bark of laughter. What fools they were – he possessed the ability to transverse between realities and dimensions at whim, to create paradoxes and new beings and Empire's where none existed before. Even if his Covenant fell here, even if the Tok'ra did break the holy bond these races shared with him, he could always start again in another Universe.

"Thus the Covenant remains," he muttered, removing his cloak as he began to take off his armor. "We are strong; our will shall be done, for those who embrace evil and become astray from the path to salvation and to the Kingdom of Heaven, shall fall to the depths of hell."

He relaxed and smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. He hated Star Trek, not because it was awful… but because he didn't know anything about it. It looked so fake, the many Star Trek series, from what he remembered (was it only a few years ago when he began the Covenant?) The only one he actually liked was the _Enterprise_, which was because it had that Terran Empire.

"The only thing that they may have to offer my Covenant," he said, talking to no one in particular though he was positive God was listening, "is their strange control over their passive version of the Replicators. If I can take control of it, learn how to adapt it for the Covenant, construction would increase. I could build entire City-Ships within a few months; create fleets in hours, cities in minutes. But then again, that would go against my Covenant's beliefs. Pleasure comes through hard work and belief, it does not come easily. Replicators would break that, and that would, possibly, shatter my most holy of Covenant's."

That, he could not allow.

He sat on his bed, a simple bed that had the Sun Wheel symbol etched into its headrest, with a cross in the middle that was balanced on a pyramid. Running his hand through his hair, a habit he wondered where he picked up, he closed his eyes and made contact with his Neural Interface.

The rush of information and thoughts was… overwhelming, to say the least. His mind barely processed the millions of thoughts and data streams per second, out of the many billions of Covenant and machines that communicated with each other. He shifted through the files and thoughts, pleased that there not one Covenant citizen was against the destruction of the Federation. And why would they be against it? The Federation had gone astray, had attacked the Covenant and insulted their way of life. They did not deserve God's gift of life.

Only a handful of beings in the Covenant knew about the implants they had in their skulls. Two were Cylons, a Model Six and Model Eight. Another was Model One, the one known as Cavil on Primo Solis. There were also a few others, Sangheili leaders who had earned his trust.

He delved into the mind of his Hallowed Admiral, the overall commander of the First Crusade, his second-in-command that oversaw the training, preparation, and use of his military forces.

As in the Halo Universe, Xytan 'Jar Wattinree remained the Sangheili Hallowed Admiral, and was the finest and smartest commander of all the Highest Commanders that had been chosen. He saw no one better to destroy the Federation than the Hallowed Admiral himself.

Right now, the Hallowed Admiral was overseeing the completion of his personal flagship, the _Fourth Equitatus_, (Horsemen.) Because of his importance, Alexander had deemed it necessary to give the Hallowed Admiral certain technologies that would make his vessel the second most powerful warship in the Divine Military. The old Plasma Reactors that the warships used was replaced by a crude Zero-Point-Module, one of many he managed to replicate using data from the Forerunner Dreadnaught's vast archive of knowledge. 

While only capable of using a quarter of the power a Alteran ZPM used, the way the Forerunner's had developed and advanced in a short period of time compared to the Alterans', surpassing them in certain area's, made him confident that there were more powerful power sources, or at least a better ZPM. But the ZPM, while not as powerful as Alteran version, gave the Assault Carrier five times as much power, the Repulsor Drives capable of traveling at 12% the speed of light per hour, the Asgard shields were twice as strong, and plasma weaponry was capable of stripping away at the shields of Asgard ships with a just a few hit's.

Despite this, the Admiral had questioned why the ZPM's (or as he called them, 'Power of the Archangel') were not installed to all of the Covenant's ships. The reason the Covenant Navy still used Plasma Reactors, as powerful as a Goa'uld or Tau'ri Naquadah Generator, was because it was in large quantities. What good would the Navy be if only a fifth of the ships were operating because it was near impossible to mass-produce the ZPM's since the Covenant was still in the 'early' stages of growth and development, what would be the point?

He left the thoughts of the Hallowed Admiral and took shallow breaths as he pulled himself out of the sea of knowledge and data, and back to his own personal mind. He took deep breaths and collected himself. He had to be careful, not to insult Jesus, the one and only Son of God. This act, as the Second Son, was starting to go out of control, but he needed to act. His Covenant, his work for God to eliminate evil, needed to have a messiah.

And he was the last messiah. Those who failed to join him when the Covenant went on the Great journey and Ascended to Higher Planes of existence, he would truly be the Son of God. But, in the back of mind, slowly spreading outwards like a plague that was being ignored, the thought that he _was _God's Second Son began to take root, the start of what would eventually bring dozens of realities to war. But, for the moment, that root was small, insignificant.

And, right now, it was being ignored as two figures walked in front of him wearing the scantiest of clothing that covered the most vital of areas. Alexander looked up and saw the smiling faces of his wives, the Humanoid Cylon Six, known as 'Caprica-Six,' and the Humanoid Model Eight known as 'Boomer.' He smiled back at them as they sat at his side, placing their hands on his chest, and pushed him down to the bed. "Lust is a Sin of God," he reminded them. "One of the Deadly Sins that can corrupt and destroy one's soul and chance to Heaven. God is forgiving, but you provoke him enough, and Father can destroy."

Boomer chuckled at the sentence. "Lust, what is lust but an illusion, my love? It is not lust when love is necessary, and our bond is necessary to continue your and our blood-lines."

"God lust's as well," Caprica-Six said,.

Alexander looked at her, shocked by her words. "Careful with what you say – Father knows all and hears all. For you to say that is blasphemy, punishable by being left behind!"

She looked him. "But isn't God all of us, our emotions and very beings?"

He nodded. "You say truth, Caprica."

"His lust's for the Covenant to bring all of our Chosen Races together to join him in Peace and Heaven. He wants' us to be safe and stay on the path. Your father, our Father-in-law," she giggled at that – God was her Father-In-Law – "will accept us because our love is just. Did Jesus not marry; did your brother not marry Mary Magdalene?"

"Yes, and that reason he cannot break our love." He loved the two Cylons, more than he loved anyone else. Polygamy was accepted in the Covenant, it was not banned nor was it rejected or considered to be evil.

The Covenant and its entire people, especially the Cylons and Sangheili, embraced it. The Sangheili embraced it because their Elders married many Sangheili females to pass on their respected Genes. The Cylons embraced it because they emulated it from the Colonial's.

"You gave us life, you saved us in our darkest hour," Boomer said, shivering as she remembered how Lee Adama had tried to _rape _her before she shot herself, and was reborn on a Resurrection Ship. Sensing this, Alexander kissed Boomer's forehead and caressed her cheek.

He pulled them closer as he waved his hand and the light's turned off.


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

.

.

.

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster**.

_._

_._

_._

_He entered Jericho and was passing through. _

**Luke 19:1**

**The Holy Bible**

.

.

.

**Stargate Command (SGC), Area-52**

**Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America **

.

.

General Landry took his seat at the front of the briefing desk as the members of SG-1 and two Tok'ra representatives entered. "SG-1, welcome back," Landry said, greeting the Tok'ra members as well. "I heard that you have some new information on Ba'al and his clones?"

One of the Tok'ra, a female, lowered her head briefly and rose, her demeanor changed completely. "**We have some disturbing news to report**," she said, her voice distorted as the Tok'ra symbiote in her took over. "**We have lost contact with one of our spies that were sent to investigate a possible Goa'uld who was attempting to rebuild a Goa'uld Empire. We have been unable to make contact with her. It also appears that one of Ba'al's former underlings, a Goa'uld known as Moloch, was defeated several weeks ago.**"

Mitchell raised his hand, confusion on his face. "Uh, wait: isn't that a good thing? A Goa'uld got taken down, after all."

The other Tok'ra, a male, shook his head in disagreement. "**In this case, I am afraid not Colonel Mitchell. Moloch possessed the most powerful realms of the few Goa'uld who still rule what worlds they own. His dominion was overrun and he was killed in less than a day. One our spies in his ranks managed to record this image before he fled, the final world that Moloch held before his Empire fell to this… for lack of a better word, an unusual enemy.**"

The Tok'ra pulled a silver-hued ball from his robes and placed it in the center of the table.

Intricate designs glowed on the ball as a bright beam of light shot out from the center of the ball and spiraled outwards, like a cone. Tiny pinpoints of light appeared some closer and some father away – stars. Then an explosion rippled across the holographic field, which actually gave off light.

Landry blinked as dot's appeared in his vision and saw four Goa'uld Ha'tak-class Assault Ships swoop over a large shadow. The Tok'ra who was recording the battle 'zoomed out,' obviously shaking and – Landry stropped breathing. Everyone but the two Tok'ra gaped in shock. Cater was the first to find her voice, and hoarsely, whispered, "Is that a _ship_?"

"**Indeed it is Samantha Carter,**" the male Tok'ra said gravely. "**We estimate its size to be 11 kilometers in length, the largest vessel we have ever encountered. For vessel of such size, it was quite nimble and its defensives and offensive weaponry were far superior to that of the Goa'uld, as you can see.**"

He pointed to the hologram just as a beam shot out from the immense vessel and struck a Ha'tak. Carter paled as the beam 'splashed' over the golden shields, and then recollected into a cohesive beam and speared the pyramid ship. More beams shot out as the Ha'tak's weaved pack and forth, desperately trying to avoid the beams as one more was taken out.

"**At this point they launched Death Gliders and Al'kesh,**" the female Tok'ra said, her voice oddly calm.

Landry watched as the 'camera' zoomed again, and caught a flock of the crescent-shaped Death Gliders fire their staff cannons at the ship, a blue splotch appearing where each bolt hit the shield. Two Al'kesh made bombing runs, dropping their load of plasma charges as one more Ha'tak was destroyed.

The image zoomed in and they saw a plate of armor slide back, revealing what looked like missile tubes. But, instead of missiles that shot out… "Those are Drone weapons are they not?" Teal'c whispered.

"They are," Cater said, shocked.

The Tok'ra nodded. "**From what we saw when Anubis attacked and you repelled them with these 'Drones,' this enemy uses them as well.**"

The image zoomed back out and then he saw the ship accelerate forward with such a sudden burst of speed that it caught a Ha'tak by surprise. The vessel's prow crashed into the Ha'tak and the shields around the massive warships flared as the Ha'tak was torn to pieces.

Then the images faded away at the beam of light retracted into the sphere, and the intricate lines dimmed and vanished. "**The power readings we learned revealed that this craft, to whatever species it belongs to, possess amazing energy sources. It is much more powerful than anything the Tok'ra had recorded. You have had much more experience with powerful energy sources, the Tok'ra High Council was hoping you could gain more.**"

Carter leaned forward and took a data pad the female Tok'ra had produced. She tapped the screen and her eyes widened as data steamed across her screen. Her lips became dry. "General, sir, these power readings indicate at least one or two Zero-Point Modules, maybe more than two!"

Mitchell, who had been drinking a cup of coffee, coughed it out; beating his chest as dripping out liquid was thrown the length of the table. "Sorry," he said, "wait, Cater, WHAT?"

"This ship has ZPM's?" Jackson questioned, surprised. "That's amazing; they might be remnants of the Ancients!"

"I thought the Ancient's were all dead," Vala said.

"Indeed they are," Teal'c said, "but it is not impossible for some to continue on surviving, hiding on other worlds."

"The man has a point," Landry said.

Then, out of nowhere, alarms began to blare in the base. "**What is going on, are we under attack?**"

"Maybe," Landry said grimly. "I'm cutting this meeting short for a moment, to the Gate Room."

General Landry threw a glance at Sergeant Harriman as he strode briskly into the control center overlooking the gate room. Walter's spectacles caught the reflected glimmer of the open wormhole in the gat room beyond. "What's going on?" Landry asked.

"Incoming traveler," Walter said, "no IDC. We're not expecting SG-2 or SG-6 for another two hours."

"Seal the Iris," Landry ordered.

"Yes, sir."

The Trinium-Titanium Iris, Earth's first line of defense against off world travelers, rotated shut in front of the wormhole's event horizon. The Tok'ra joined him SG-1 as they waited. "**Your Iris is very effective,**" the male Tok'ra remarked, "**In exchange for an Al'kesh, would you be willing to give us the designs for this Iris of yours? It can be effective for our safety.**"

Landry glanced at the Tok'ra. "We can talk trade later," he said with a slight hint of impatience in his voice. "Right now, let's focus on your security, our security, and the security of the SGC and Earth for the moment."

The male Tok'ra bowed in embarrassment.

"Forgive my symbiote," the host said, the Tok'ra allowing it's host to speak ,"It's just that he takes the security of his own people as much as you take the security of your world."

"Understandable," Teal'c said.

Then, all of a sudden, the Iris began to warp.

"What the hell?" Colonel Mitchell muttered as the twenty Marines in the Gate Room raised their rifles and aimed the two 50 cal Machine Guns at the distorted Iris. "Sir," Walter said, "the Iris is beginning to warm to extreme temperature." Then, to Colonel Cater, he said, "the energy reading is similar to when Sokar tried to break into the SGC a few years ago."

"Right, that incident with Apophis," Daniel said, remembering.

"Indeed."

To their horror, the Iris began to melt, and Walter's glasses caught the reflection of the active wormhole. Landry said the only appropriate thing as the Iris then was torn open and drawn into the wormhole: "What the hell?"

"_And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved_," a voice declared from beyond the wormhole on the other side. "_So says Thessalonans 2:10. Those of wicked hearts that have perished, do not entire the gate's of heaven because they did not receive love, and without truth to guide them, they cannot be saved. Will you join us, Tau'ri, or will you reject us?_"

"**What is going on General Landry?**" The Tok'ra demanded, fearful.

Landry growled. "I'll tell you when I know. Now, who the hell are you, respond or we will fire." He added, whispering to Walter, "Can you shut the Gate down."

"I can't," Walter muttered back.

"Great."

They would have to wait a whole god dang thirty eight minutes before the wormhole shut off. "_General Landry,_" the voice said, "_Do you wish to gain the respect and love of your wife? Gain the attention and adoration that you lack from your flesh and blood daughter?_"

Landry froze. "_I can give you their love and attention, General Landry, if you are willing to surrender SG-1. I can give you fortune and power, anything you want for just five people._"

Landry looked torn in half. This voice, this stranger, was offering him what he always wanted – a second chance with his family. He had started to patch things up with his daughter, but not enough. They were still on cool terms with each other… and he hadn't seen her mother for years. But then again… he couldn't just abandon the SGC, nor could he give up SG-1. He had to choose though, his family, or the lives of Earth's flag team.

He sighed…. He was going to regret this.

"I refuse to surrender SG-1," he said with a final tone, "You can tempt with promises of my deepest desires, but I won't bend."

To their surprise, they heard laughter.

Then, before their eyes, ten Jaffa in Horus Armor stepped out wielding a strange type of staff-like weapon in their hands. It had a spear-like end that had a strange glowing orange and yellow 'fins.' They were 14 feet tall, towering over the Jaffa warriors. They formed two lines, five on each side of the ramp as they marched carefully, the 'plume' of the guard's shifting as they looked at the Marines aiming their weapons. The room was filled with the roars and echoes of gunfire, oversized bullets and armor-piercing, Trinium-tipped bullets rushing towards the Horus Guards. Any sensible Jaffa, Teal'c knew, would have searched for cover immediately or fired as soon as they left the Stargate, to die in the service of their false God. But not these Jaffa, they just stood there, waiting.

It was stupid.

It was suicidal.

It was…

Shocking….

…. Shocking that they were _still alive_!

"**What trickery is this?**" The Tok'ra demanded as the Jaffa Horus Guards stood at attention, waiting. "**Should they not be dead? Truth your weapons are primitive, but they should be able to defeat these Jaffa!**"

"Ignoring that comment." Colonel Mitchell said.

Then an alien stepped through the gate wearing a blazing golden armor. The alien was reptilian in appearance, with four hinged mandibles and narrow yellow eyes. Its helmet was largely angular with a set of spikes at the rear of the helmet and a pair of cheek guards, with a metal plate guarding the jaw.

On it's Deltoid's, it had a series of overlapping plates that spiked upwards and downwards on each side. And on its chest, it had a pair of plates that covered each side of its chest, with a gap between them and pair of rectangular lights heading downwards on each side. Its legs were covered by narrow armor that jutted outward's since the alien's knee's were bent forward.

"Hail warriors of the Tau'ri," the alien roared, rising to full height as its hunched-back appearance vanished. "I am Sese Taham'ee, Special Operative Command. I come in greeting to your illustrious world."

Landry pressed the ON button on the speaker to the gate room. "This is General Hank Landry, what do you want?"

The alien bared its mandibles, revealing a set of jagged white teeth embedded into each mandible. "It am not what I want or desire, General Landry," the alien proclaimed, stepping to the side as the Horus Guard's kneeled. "It is what the founder of our most holy Covenant wants."

"**What is this Covenant?**" The female Tok'ra muttered. "**Have you ever heard of this Covenant before?**"

"No we have not," Teal'c said, frowning at the Jaffa. Why did they wear the armor of the Horus Guard's when both Ra and Her'ur were both dead? No other Goa'uld System Lord used Horus Guard's. It made no sense. And why did they serve another being than live in equality under the Free Jaffa Nation?

"And just who is your founder?" Landry questioned.

"I am," a hollow voice said. There was a flash of light in the middle of the gate room as the Stargate's event horizon 'evaporated,' and the wormhole closed behind them, blinding the room.

"Sir, that's Asgard beaming technology," Carter said.

"Yeah, it is," Mitchell agreed.

The bright light dimmed and, standing in full glory, was a tall man wearing an intimidating suit of armor and a cloak, with a fearsome mask with burning red eye holes that appeared to glow. Landry felt a cold sensation travel down the back of his spine as the figure looked around. "Who are you?"

"I… I am the savior from all of your sins," the man said, hoarsely, "I am the creator of all that is holy, son of the One Lord we revere."

"A false god," Teal'c muttered, hate in his voice. The man, the figure, the demon and servant to a God, looked at the Jaffa with cold eyes.

"Nay Teal'c, founder of the Free Jaffa Nation, former First Prime to the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis," the man said, his voice rising dramatically. "The Lord is not false for he is my father. I am the Second Son, heir to his Kingdom and chooser of the Chosen Races that we had seeded across the realities. You know of my brother, the one you have come to call: Jesus of Nazareth."

"What?" Daniel said, shocked out of his mind. Jesus was a Goa'uld? Well, it made sense since Sokar, the Devil, was a Goa'uld. But never in his mind did he imagine Jesus to actually be a Goa'uld! But it could be true, no matter how much he didn't want to believe it – the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus could have been if the man had been in a sarcophagus. But Jesus was a kind, a good man. There was no Goa'uld that was like that.

As if reading his mind, the man shook his head. "You fail to realize that not all beings who claim godhood are parasites. God is all mighty, all knowing, his son, my brother came to your Earth to spread faith and salvation. I come to reap those who believe and to bring them into my Covenant."

He paused and continued on: "General Landry, you have proven yourself capable of being on the path to salvation to ascend into Heaven. You resisted temptation though it was one of your greatest desires. For that, you must be congratulated. The Lord looks upon you in rejoice for you are favored."

Landry looked a bit confused. "Thanks, I think. Uh, what's your name son? We didn't catch it before."

The man waved his hand.

"I am not your son; to call me 'Son' would indicate you are the creator of man and this universe. But you do not know my name for I did not tell you. You are not privileged to know my name, my True Name, yet you shall know the name I have chosen to lead the Covenant. I am the Hierarch," he declared, spreading his arms in a dramatic fashion, parting his cloak. "I am the brother to Lord Jesus, and the Second Son of God. I come to bring salvation and truth to the Chosen Races."

"**He talks of a False God, perhaps the one who used that large warship,**" the female Tok'ra muttered.

"It is a possibility," Teal'c agreed.

Jackson stammered then, his eyes catching sign of the symbol etched into this 'Hierarch's body armor.' "Th-That's the Sun Cross right?"

"Indeed it is Daniel Jackson."

"I thought so… do you know of someone called Brother Cavil? He lives on… on Primo Solis, the capital of the First World," he said finally.

The Hierarch nodded.

"Correct, I do know of him. He is one my Prior's, my 'missionaries' in spreading the word of the Lord to the Chosen Races."

"Sound's like a Prior," Mitchell muttered to Carter. "Prior, Missionary, spreading their own twisted religion around, you see the connection?"

Cater nodded.

The Hierarch seemed to about to say more when he paused and looked into the distance, frozen. "Forgive me but I must leave to attend to greater matters," he said, tilting his head forward. "I have business to attend to on Tegalus. Forgive me, and consider the word of the Lord."

"Uh, how," Jackson asked.

"If he's like the Ori, he's going to give a book," Vala muttered.

Vala was right.

The Hierarch raised his hand a bright glow emanated from the gloved hand, and a book appeared before Daniel Jackson. The archeologist grabbed it before it fell on the floor, and nodded. "Thank you."

"To spread the Word of My Father, it is an honor," the Hierarch said. He turned and walked towards the Stargate. To the shock and surprise of everyone in the room, the Chevrons on the Stargate chimed and locked, causing a wormhole to erupt from the ring and stabilize.

"**How did he-**"

"Trust in the Lord and he shall give you power," The Hierarch said as the reptilian-like alien stepped forward and walked through the wormhole first, followed by the ten Jaffa Horus Guards. Finally, the Hierarch went on through.

As soon as he vanished behind the Event Horizon, the wormhole closed. "Do we know where he went?" Landry demanded.

Walter shook his head. "Damn it."

"….Tegalus… Tegalus… Sam, isn't that the world with those two countries locked in a Cold War?" Daniel asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I wonder why he went there. He said that there were issues they that required his attention."

"Sir, incoming traveler," Harriman reported.

Landry groaned. Why was today such a bad day?

"Sir, it's coming from Tegalus," Walter said.

"What a coincidence," Landry muttered.

"Sir, I'm receiving a radio message coming from the other side," Harriman paused and added, "Sir, it's Jared Kane."

"Jared, it's me Doctor Jackson," Daniel said.

"Doctor Jackson; I have little time. I have accessed the Stargate without my government's approval or knowledge. My people as well as my world are in danger – we need your help."

Jackson looked at Landry, who looked resigned. He sighed and waved his hand. "Does it really matter? We don't have a Iris, let him through. Meanwhile… so, let's talk about the Iris Deal," he said, talking to the Tok'ra.

The Tok'ra bowed and the three of them walked towards the briefing room.

"What happened?"

Jared look disturbed. "Two months ago, my people were approached by a man who wanted to spread salvation and peace to us, preaching that to be saved, we had to follow them."

Mitchell frowned. "Oh let me guess – the Ori, right?"

"Yes, I take it… you met them before."

"Indeed."

"Oh yeah, a lot of times," Vala said.

Teal'c looked at her.

"What?"

"What did your leaders go," Daniel asked.

"They accepted, the embraced origin," Jared said sadly. "We had to. A plague swept through our land and thousands died. When we accepted, the Ori lifted the curse and saved us."

Teal'c growled.

"What about the Caledonian Protectorate?"

"The Ori wanted to talk to them, to spread their word to the other's. But, since we accepted the word of the Ori-"

"The Caledonian's wouldn't listen," Sam said lamely.

"Right, and then the Prior ordered us to build a weapon."

"Weapon?" Teal'c questioned.

"Yes, some sort of orbital satellite. I have the plans with me," he raised a number of sheets he had held in his hands, "but there is a problem – they gave it to us only in stages."

Sam frowned. "Can we see them?"

"Why else would I bring it to you?"

.

.

.

"Wow… this is… amazing!"

"Cater – it's an Ori Weapon, its bad."

She nodded. "I know that Daniel, but the weapon itself is incredible, very powerful and actually relatively simple. But… well, that's not right," she frowned, "some parts seem incomplete or missing. I don't see a power generator that should power the weapon… and the shield generator seems too big for something of this size. I wonder why."

"Well, the weapon was supposed to be made with what the Rand has," Daniel said, "The Ori wouldn't allow the Rand to build a weapon all at once that could be used against them, and they would have to build the weapon with what the Rand has, let's not forget that."

"True," Sam admitted.

Jared rubbed the back of his neck. He was ashamed of his people for doing this, for following a fake God when they had done so much to deny that the Stargate was a access to the Heavens. He didn't want to tell them that the Caledonian's had also gone religious.

But he had to.

To save his people… and the world.

"There's…. something else, I have to tell you," he said.

"What?"

"As soon as the Prior visited us, the Caledonian's was also visited by a Prior, but not one of the Ori."

Vala frowned. "Whada you mean?"

"Proper grammar," Daniel muttered to Vala.

She stuck her tongue out.

"We don't know a lot on the religious order that the Caledonian's accepted, but they came down in a beam of light. They preached almost the same thing that the Prior's said, but that only through tests and problems can one reach Ascension. They said that the Ori, the Goa'uld and others were false, and that there was only one God, not many or more."

"What did this other Prior want?"

"To believe and they will be saved from death."

"Death?"

"Our weapon. There is third issue – the weapon is already functional. That's the reason I came – two hours ago, a Caledonian missile silo was destroyed. My people are threatening to wipe them all out unless they surrender."

"Oh."


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_He will recompense the evil to my foes_

_Destroy them in your faithfulness. _

**Psalm 54:5**

**The Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

Picard sat in the chair of the USS _Enterprise _and gave the impression of a man who with an iron will, a man who held his beliefs close and believed that, above all, pace can come from the darkest of moments, and that peace can be achieved through knowledge and cultural exchange. He didn't show the weariness, the remorse and pain, the shock and despair that the rest of the crew, even Data and Worf, were showing as they slowed down for the exit out of Warp.

But that was the image Picard projected.

In reality though… Picard was dying. Slowly of course, but surely, dying not physically, but mentally, dying from seeing a war that made the devastating invasion from the Borg and the terrible Dominion War seem simple and easy. He wanted to bury himself in his palms and cry, cry for the thousands of lost souls he was forced to abandon on several worlds, for the loss of so many brave Starfleet officers who stayed and fought against the evil forces of the Covenant. He wanted to cry as the world that he knew, the very universe that kept the Federation strong for so many centuries, turned its back from it and betray it.

Instead, he gave off his appearance of a strong will, which hid the pain that his crew all shared. He buried deep inside his mind, so deep he could barely feel it. But when he did, it took all his strength to bury it again. They threatened to erupt out, this time permanently, in the next few seconds: "We are entering the solar system, Captain. I am detecting more than eight hundred starships in orbit around Earth, not including fighters."

Picard was aghast. "That's almost everything we have. How could Halsey pull together so many ships, with long-range communications down? Especially after our losses in the Dominion War ..."

Riker leaned forward, his hair disheveled and his arm in cast. Riker had been hurt when he helped defend Deep Space Nine from a Covenant attack. Ultimately the Covenant had won the battle, destroying twelve Defiant-class starships without losing a single ship, and they had used only four ships in the battle. It was a circle – each time the Federation and its allies (and even the Romulan's who were not spared from the warpath of the Covenant,) met the Covenant, the Covenant would immediately overwhelm them with just a handful of ships.

And any ship that surrendered had their crew's killed and the ships taken over. Worse that that, was that there were people who believed in the ridiculous claims of the Covenant's faith and willingly joined them, betraying the Federation. In a month since the Covenant first appeared in Federation space, more than 154 out of the 216 worlds that the Federation held influence over had been wasted away to inhospitable hulks. It was awful.

"He must have called in ships from all the nearby sectors," Riker uttered, "he used emergency buoys and temporary relays to send the call out as far as he could. He must be hoping to hit them with more starships than they expect to see." Picard sensed some admiration in his voice, "very smart, I have to admit. The Covenant will never expect this sort of defense."

"Yes, Number One. But how many star systems did he leave defenseless, so that he could build this fleet? How many Federation citizens are looking up into the sky tonight and wondering why Starfleet has abandoned them?" Picard's disgust with Halsey was obvious.

"Did he have any alternative?"

"There are always alternatives, Number One. I'm going to beam over to the USS _Tanaka_, to speak with Halsey in person. Number One, you have the bridge." Picard strode into the turbolift, and within minutes, he was materializing in the transporter room of the USS _Tanaka_. The _Tanaka_'s transporter operator stood stiffly at attention and greeted the unexpected visitor with an expression of surprise followed by recognition.

"Captain Picard? I didn't realize you were coming onboard."

Picard didn't have time to explain himself to the ensign, so he merely smiled and raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Well then, someone must have forgotten to inform you! Carry on, ensign." He quickly strode down the hallway toward his meeting with Halsey.

Aboard the USS _Tanaka_, Halsey responded to the chime from the door of his ready room. "Enter." He looked up with an expression of mild surprise to see Picard walking through the door. "Ah, my good Captain, glad to see the _Enterprise_ in one piece after the loss of Deep Space Nine! My compliments to your chief engineer; I hope your valiant crew will fight bravely in the coming battle."

"I have every confidence in my crew, Admiral. But the _Enterprise _is still too heavily damaged for combat. In any case, that is not why I am here. I am here because I want to know what happened to the President."

"Haven't you heard?" Halsey said angrily, slamming his fist on his desk like some crude man. "The situation is far worse than we had feared, Captain. Somehow, the Covenant managed to sneak past his guard's, and assassinate the President. They infiltrated our organization to the point that they can put assassins in our highest government offices and murder our leaders at will. It was the first step in what I have been telling Starfleet since the Covenant arrived. So to prevent the Covenant from spreading, I took control of Starfleet, and declared a state of martial law to deal with the crisis. It was only the first step-"

"You instilled Martial law!" Picard said, aghast, "Do you seriously think that such an extreme measure was necessary? There are alternate paths that you could have taken than such a drastic option!"

Picard was utterly dumbfounded.

"Captain, I'm afraid you don't realize how bad the situation is. Martial law wasn't just necessary, it was long overdue! You have been isolated, and thanks to the destruction of the subspace relay network, you have been incommunicado. What you may not know is that the enemy has already wiped out the Vulcan's, wiped out most of the Federation's founding species too. The Romulan's are too busy with the attacks on them to help us, and the Klingon's have already lost a majority of their forces in a failed attempt to divert a number of Covenant ships away from them. They can't help us, we have to save ourselves."

Halsey lowered his voice suddenly: "Picard, this isn't good. The situation is even worse than you may have imagined. Some of the colonies have broken away from the Federation, and declaring their allegiance to the Covenant and that backward system they call religion."

"What?"

The War hawk Admiral nodded gravely. "The Covenant embraces these worlds, but we all know it's an act to try and discredit the Federation. They have the citizens of the world _attack _each other, Picard, _attack _each other to root out those who are spies or just don't really believe. Its barbaric Picard, the Covenant is cruel and worse than the Borg could ever be. We're losing more ships than we ever lost in both the invasion from the Borg and the Dominion War combined in less than a month!"

Picard's jaw set. "Admiral, I can certainly understand their decision! The Covenant might, and they have, bombarded their planet or worse yet, destroy it completely if they remain a full Federation member. Have you seen when the Covenant comes into orbit around a conquered planet? They fire their plasma cannons on the surface of the planet and burn its oceans, burn its surface, and burn the atmosphere. Nothing would remain but ash and eternal fires! It's terrifying to see it, and worse to hear it since the Covenant might appear over your world." He paused briefly, and continued in a darker tone. "This never would have happened if this situation had been handled properly from the start."

Halsey's expression hardened. "Picard, if you've got something to say, then say it."

Picard almost growled his response. "I am trying to say that you have spent every effort to win the war, without giving any thought to winning the peace! Let's suppose that through some miracle, you actually win this battle. Then what? The Covenant will simply send more ships. More warriors. More deaths, Admiral! They can outlast you, and they will continue bombarding and threatening star system after star system into submission. One by one, more Federation systems will secede until there is no Federation left to fight for!" He paused, expecting Halsey to interject something, but Halsey merely sat there fuming. Picard continued. "You have no right to continue plunging us deeper and deeper into this war. You were never elected to your position, and you have illegally seized control of the government."

Halsey said nothing for a long time. He continued staring at Picard as the icy silence lengthened, until he eventually spoke in a quiet, deliberate tone of voice. "Captain Picard, this is hardly the time to debate legal technicalities. We are on the brink of the most important battle in the history of humanity. We need your help in the coming battle Picard. We don't need a controversy. And let us not forget, that you were the main reason that this war has started, _you_ insulted their way of life, and you went to war with them. For all your talk of wanting peace, you still fail to realize that you are the cause of these deaths!"

Halsey waved his hand: "You are dismissed."

Picard stood his ground, and raised his voice. "The coming battle shouldn't be happening at all, Admiral!"

Halsey's skin turned a dark shade of red, and the veins stood out on his forehead. "Captain, you are dismissed! You will obey my orders and return to the _Enterprise_, or I will relieve you of command. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Admiral, perfectly clear, sir," Picard was furious but he knew better than to risk a direct confrontation before he had any hard evidence.

.

.

.

Aboard the _Fourth Equitatus_, at the Tau Ceti System, the most illustrious and powerful being in the Covenant, below only God, Jesus, and the Hierarch, contemplated his options. He clicked his quadruple mandibles in annoyance as he wondered how the Holy Hierarch would react to the latest losses his Crusade Fleet had suffered: "Captain, how many ships did we lose this time?"

Ship Master Dvaro 'Kasunam'ee responded with a slight edge of trepidation in his voice; "Hallowed Admiral, we destroyed all of the attackers in the last wave of these heretical and blasphemous Borg cubes, but we lost two of our own ships, both of them Destroyers. But I regret to inform that we lost a valuable Baseship in another engagement against twenty of their vessels in the battle. They seem to have adapted their weapons and shields to be more effective than we expected. If this keeps up, Hallowed Admiral our losses will become a great source of embarrassment to the Covenant, we have lost nine ships so far out of the 2 000 Ships the Crusade Fleet commands."

"A disappointment," the Hallowed Admiral whispered sadly.

The Borg was proving to be a formidable opponent indeed, much more than he had ever anticipated. The Hierarch had warned him of course, with their heretical ability to adapt (though the Hierarch had deemed it useful and desired to use it for improving the Holy Ships of the Covenant,) but he had failed to heed. And for his failure, he lost far too many ships in this dimension that what he expected to lose.

He sighed regretfully: "The Hierarch warned me and a failed to listen – and for that the Lord has seen it to curse me with so many losses. Alone they are no match for even the weakest of our vessels, but with their overwhelming numbers that dare match our own, they can be deadly. Their weapons seem to grow stronger with each engagement, but they still pale to our own. The Borg is known for their ability to quickly adapt to new threats."

He looked away and then looked back.

"Ship Master, have we received confirmation if the Hierarch is indeed arriving to inspect the Crusade as the rumors have said?"

"He is not arriving, Hallowed One," the Ship Master said to his relief, "The rumors were false."

So he could still save himself from humiliation. He would not go into the History Texts as the fool who lost 30 ships in the First Crusade. He would not be remembered in such a shameful manner. "Seventy seven planetary targets eliminated so far, along with their entire defense fleets. It is simply glorious," he admitted with reluctance, "that the Borg keep coming, and refuse all attempts at negotiation, even though we have destroyed so many of their worlds , a truly fearless race! Surely any sentient race would have to consider surrender after such losses, but they do not fear death, do not feel regret or caution. They are a warrior race to be admired, if they were not heretics who dare use heretical technology control to do so."

The Sangheili bared their mandibles and roared in anger. "They are not rue warriors then, they are pathetic beings!" The Ship Master barked angrily, "once we defeat them, we will save the faithful from these blasphemous beings, our legacy will be insured and our names shall ve sung in the annals of history, in the service of the Holy Hierarch and the Lord!"

The Hallowed Admiral nodded approvingly.

"What of our losses, Admiral?" The Ship Master questioned when he calmed down, "when the Crusade is complete, we must report with accuracy. All of the Covenant and the Hierarch will know of our shameful losses."

Hallowed Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree bared his mandibles in fury. "I fail to believe that we can suffer more losses. The Borg's shields and weapons may be more effective than we expected, but they have shown an utter lack of tactical inventiveness that we are capable of. It's almost comical, isn't it? In every single battle, they make that ridiculous speech of theirs, they form up into a group, and they move in a straight line toward the heart of our forces. They ignore flanking maneuvers, they ignore damage, and they move mindlessly forward in a straight line until they are destroyed. The only reason they are even remotely dangerous is their lack of individuality. Each and every Borg drone's existence is an unbroken stream of military or industrial activities. It is a society that we could use if the Hierarch demanded it, yet it would be capable and it would drain our Covenant of many resources."

"Yes, perhaps," The Ship Master said with false understand. Wattinree was confident in the Covenant's eventual victory over the Borg, but they would take unacceptable losses in manpower and equipment. They might even have to request heavy reinforcements from the Covenant, and that would bring disgrace and shame, as well as the feeling of failure, failing to do the job he was given by the Hierarch would undoubtedly be displeased with his performance.

He would be removed from command, and he knew perfectly well that there was future for him if he failed. '_Rightly so,_' the Hallowed Admiral reminded himself with a sour feeling. '_I should have had a contingency plan for the premature appearance of the Borg. My mistake may cost a great many lives. But there was no point dwelling upon mistakes. Instead, he would have to find ways to deal with the problem at hand_.' He reviewed his options, and decided upon a plan. "Ship Master, we shall accelerate our campaign against the Federation. Contact the fifty nearest Ship Masters and prepare to invade their Homeworld in two days."

The Ship Master looked surprised. He didn't want to question the illustrious Sangheli's decisions more than he had to, but this time he was sure the Admiral had made a mistake. "Sir, with the continual Borg attacks, is this a good time to accelerate our campaign against their world? They have tried to hide it from us, but we have known for a long time."

The Sangheili snarled: "This isn't just an excellent time to accelerate our campaign against the heretical Federation- it is the ideal time!" With that enigmatic statement, the Hallowed Admiral turned and walked off the bridge.

Bowing, the Ship Master began the necessary communication messages and organization for the impending invasion.

He clicked his mandibles.

Soon, this heresy would be stamped out for all eternity.

.

.

.

"Admiral, a Covenant fleet is dropping out of hyperspace eighteen million kilometers from our position!" Lieutenant Portugal barked.

"What is their size and composition?" Halsey inquired.

"Approximately fifty starships Admiral, sir, including one… Assault Carrier" the Lieutenant replied, his face paling at the size of the enemy fleet, "They're launching fighters and approaching at high Sublight speed, in a single group. Based on previous engagements, we'll be in their range of fire in just under a minute."

'_So it begins_,' Halsey thought to himself. '_Today will decide the future of the Federation and the freedom of humanity._'

"Red alert," he barked, "Inform the fleet that they are to execute tactical maneuver Foxtrot-Tango-Three on my mark." He was giddy; his fleet had five hundred ships that included their fighters – against fifty ships! For all of their superiority, even they couldn't be able to handle this many ships, the sheer impact of so many Phasers and Torpedoes smashing against their shields!

Still… that Assault Carrier was worth many starships. With the sheer amount of plasma weapons that ship had, and the impossibly long range they could reach, he could lose a large number of starships just trying to get close. But he would not fail – he could not. For the Federation, for the human race, for the future of their species and their freedom from the lies of religion!

"Yes, sir; Informing the fleet," the Lieutenant said. The vast Federation fleet formed into a cohesive group and hurtled toward what would be the most critical battle in Federation history. '_Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred_,' Portugal thought to himself. '_Give or take a couple of hundred ...'_ he was interrupted in his thoughts by a message coming through. "Sir, they are hailing us, demanding that we surrender embrace their 'God' and their so-called path to salvation. And they're also demanding we hand…" he paused, confused. "Sir, they're also demanding that we hand over Captain Picard to them."

The first demand didn't surprise Halsey, but the second one did. "Picard? What would they want with Picard?" He thought about it for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "It doesn't matter- let them eat static, Lieutenant."

"Sir, someone else is trying to contact the Covenant fleet. It's the _Enterprise_. They're transmitting from inside Spacedock."

Halsey's anger flared as he realized what Picard was doing. He had been quietly pleased that the heavily damaged _Enterprise_ was still being repaired when the Covenant fleet arrived, and it hadn't occurred to him that Picard would be brash enough to try and circumvent his authority. "Damn that Picard. Lieutenant, can we jam his transmission from here?"

"Not without transmitting so much subspace energy that our ECM will be useless. We'll be the biggest target in the solar system."

"All right, forget that. I've got a better idea." Halsey grumbled. "Open a channel to Admiral Shimizu in Earth Spacedock."

Aboard the Enterprise, Data turned to Picard with a glum expression on his face. "Captain, we have lost communications with the Covenant Flagship. We are being jammed locally, by the Spacedock transmitters. They are far more powerful than our own communications system."

"Damn! Mister Data, how long before we can get the impulse engines on line?"

"The system is currently in a non-operational state. An emergency cold-start will take at least three minutes, sir."

"Do it." Picard ordered sharply. We've got to get clear of Spacedock so that we can communicate with Covenant leadership before Halsey squanders our only chance! We can still achieve peace through diplomacy. We can end this bloodshed before we lose too much."

Aboard the USS _Tanaka_, Halsey smiled with satisfaction as the _Enterprise_'s transmission was obliterated by space dock's powerful transmitters. The Covenant ships grew ever larger in his view screen, and he leaned forward in his seat. "Wait for it ... wait for it ... NOW!"

In a complex ballet of movement, the fleet broke up into a huge, preprogrammed starburst pattern. Hundreds of ships streaked past the Covenant warships on all sides, and executed pre-programmed, sweeping turns. They rushed toward the Covenant fleet from various angles, and dropped out of warp just inside weapons range. The Covenant fleet found itself completely surrounded by the Federation ships, which began pouring Phaser and photon torpedo fire into the trapped group. The Covenant ships returned fire immediately, and the darkness of space was illuminated by the unleashed energies of countless weapons of mass destruction.

On the vast and eerily tranquil bridge of the _Fourth Equitatus_, the Hallowed Admiral watched the unfolding chaos and smiled, "Very good, very good, indeed! They may prove to be worthy adversaries after all ... Ship Master, all ahead flank! Concentrate fire on the ships in front of us, and order the escort vessels to deal with the surrounding enemy ships. Raise interdiction field as now!"

"Illustrious One, their fleet is weakly arrayed to starboard. If we make a course correction-"

"We will be allowing the enemy to control where we move. I doubt that his uneven fleet deployment was an accident, Ship Master, this Federation's new leader, Halsey I believed, is far more competent than their previous military commanders, and they have amassed a much larger force than we have previously encountered. I repeat all ahead flank. Never let your enemies control your action, which is one of the first lessons we learned Ship Master, during our early training in the Academy. Now, let's see what his next trick is."

Aboard the USS _Tanaka_, Admiral Halsey was about to demonstrate his next trick. The ship shuddered from a plasma blast that merely scraped its hull, close enough to burn away the hull, but far enough to keep the hull intact, as well as the ship itself, save from death. He barked out a critical order: "Activate phase cloak!"

The _Tanaka_ shimmered, and then vanished, much to the astonishment of Covenant Ship Masters. But a phase-cloaked ship was still affected by gravity, and still produced its own gravity. The weapon operators onboard the various Covenant warships quickly realized they were dealing with a cloaked ship, which they had studied and learned ways to defeat during simulations in their early years, and after switching to focus scanning, they picked up the trail and fired.

A series of long, needle-thin plasma bursts hurtled toward the invisible USS _Tanaka_ and Halsey recoiled in horror as the entire bridge blazed with a blinding purple-blue light.

At first, he thought the cloak had failed, and that he was dying. The pain he felt was incredible. But the light faded, and he realized that the cloak had worked perfectly. A monstrous blob of plasma, a Plasma Torpedo, had just passed through his body, and he was still alive! Dozens of plasma bolts passed through the ship from various angles, all without effect.

He began to laugh. "If only we had time to install these cloaks on all our ships!" '_The President never even would have allowed us to take this prototype out of storage,_' he thought to himself.

Aboard the _Fourth Equitatus_, Wattinree wasn't laughing. He was furious, and his pride was damaged. "How can this be possible? How can our most powerful plasma devices fail to make contact, and slip through it as if it was not there?" He growled, and then remembered something from the studies, "Is it firing back?"

"No, Illustrious Hallowed Admiral," the Ship Master reported.

"Then it must not be able to fire while cloaked. This must be the phase-cloak that we learned about." He smiled grimly, "Even if he fires, his weapons will pass through us just as harmlessly as our weapons pass through him. I fail to realize what our enemy hopes to accomplish with it. If he cannot shoot at us, and we can't shoot at him, then we are equal. Perhaps he desires a coward's defensive-command platform from which to order his fleet.

He waved his hand: "Ignore him until he de-cloaks."

Halsey was indeed commanding his fleet from his safe vantage point. Moving easily through the battle, he had the luxury of being able to observe combat from every angle without the risk of destruction. He watched with satisfaction as three Galaxy class ships hammered the engine cluster of a Battlecruiser with a huge simultaneous Phaser and photon torpedo barrage, and growled in anger as the shields held, and a swarm of the Covenant fighters, teardrop-shaped crafts, bombarded their hulls and tore apart the three mighty starships.

He watched with frustration as two Miranda-class ships foolishly flew in a straight line right into the firing arc of a Covenant's warship 'head,' and cringed as the large warship opened fire with it's forward weapon on it's prow. In a single moment, the Miranda's were both blasted into clouds of duranium shrapnel and superheated vapor. He shouted into his communicator. "All ships, remember the briefings! Stay away from the topside front and sides of their ships, I repeat, stay away!"

Of course, he knew that it was a much easier order to issue than obey, with the confusion of battle and the jumbled mass of ships. But he continued issuing orders, redirecting ships, exhorting his men.

And so the battle raged on.

He stared at the view screen, almost hypnotized by the interplay of violence. The flaming wreckage of Covenant and Federation ships floated through space before him, as the battle took its toll on Federation starships and Covenant fighters alike. He watched an entire squadron of Covenant tear-drop fighters launch its torpedoes into the starboard warp nacelle of an Excelsior class ship, which obliterated the fighters with a proximity-burst spread of photon torpedoes just as its nacelle disintegrated into a billowing cloud of alloy and plasma. He turned his gaze elsewhere, to see the Covenant Assault Carrier smash head-first into a Galaxy-class starship, its shields flaring and vanishing as it pushed through with frightening ease.

He was horrified to see two badly-damaged Sovereign's rush against one of those starfish-shaped warships, and ultimately crash into its shields and cause no visible damage to it.

He sighed in regret.

This was not going as he planned…

He had lost more than a quarter in his fleet in the hour the battle had been raging, and so far…

The Covenant had lost none.

.

.

.

Aboard the _Enterprise_, trapped in Spacedock millions of kilometers away, Picard could only listen to the communications chatter in impotent frustration. He could hear captains ordering their crews to abandon ship, helmsmen announcing that they were going to ramming speed, the sound of explosions and screams. '_Where are those engines? If the Covenant fleet breaks through, we'll be a sitting duck,_' he thought to himself.

He started pacing again, when he felt an unmistakable vibration in the deck plates beneath his feet. A ship's captain knows his vessel as intimately as he knows himself, and the subtle vibration was as clear as if the message had been displayed in giant glowing letters on the bridge view screen.

The impulse engines were on line!

"Excellent. Mister Data, release the pod."

"Pod released, Captain." A specially modified antimatter containment pod shot away from the side of the ship, and its containment field, marginally stable, collapsed within seconds. The explosion triggered alarms all throughout the cavernous Spacedock facility, and Data immediately opened a channel. "Containment field strength dropping. One pod ejected due to instability, cascade failure imminent, request Spacedock door to release under emergency procedure number one seven three." A containment failure inside Spacedock would be disastrous, so the men and women operating the door controls obeyed their training and began opening the doors, without question and without hesitation.

Admiral Shimizu ran to the control room and demanded to know what was happening, only to look out the window and saw the _Enterprise_ moving toward the doors, and realized what was happening. "No, close the doors! It's a trick!" she shouted.

"Sir, we have an emergency-" the ensign began to protest, but Shimizu pushed past him and aborted the door release. The massive doors slowed, stopped, and then reversed direction.

"Captain, the doors are closing."

"Shimizu reacted quickly. Raise shields and squeeze us through, Mister Data, full impulse!" The _Enterprise_'s impulse engines flared brightly, and the ship twisted sideways as it leapt toward the doors. The opening was not quite wide enough for the ship to fit through, in spite of Data's expert piloting. He knew it, and split seconds later, so did everyone else on the bridge.

The _Enterprise_'s shields struck the doors and the Picard was thrown off his feet, but the ship's powerful engines forced it through. With a trail of twisted and shattered pieces of the Spacedock door behind it, the _Enterprise_ escaped into the emptiness of space.

Once outside the confines of Spacedock, they finally got a clear visual of the ensuing battle. Only now did Picard realize the gravity of the situation, as he saw the massive bulk of an Assault Carrier in the centre of the Covenant fleet. '_Good lord, they're just toying with us ... they could have simply brushed aside Halsey's fleet and gone to wasting Earth way as soon as they came out of whatever form of FTL Travel. What is their leader waiting for?_'

He tore his eyes away from the intimidating sight of the primed Covenant weapon of mass destruction long enough to order the _Enterprise_ to head straight for the battle at full impulse, and hoped that they would get there before their military leader decided to use his trump card.

All he could do now was wait right now, until the _Enterprise_ reached the magic point where the ratio of its distance to Spacedock and its distance to the _Fourth Equitatus_ was such that they would be able to burn through the jamming.

Suddenly, everything changed.

With a sudden gain of speed and ferocity, the streams of deadly plasma and fighters tripled and starships began to explode here and there with a suddenness that Picard didn't have to register. By the time he realized that the game the Covenant had begin playing ended, more than three-quarters of the Starfleet was gone.

"Oh my God," Picard whispered.

Twelve Covenant warships led by the Assault Carrier, propelled themselves forward and curved to the side as they headed towards… the moon. "Open a channel to the Assault Carrier," Picard said hastily, rising to his feet, "and see if we can make contact, we have to end this soon!"

He watched in horror as the surviving Starships, under Admiral Halsey's control, fired on the Assault Carrier. The Covenant ships ignored them, as the other half of the fleet burned away orbiting satellites, space hotels, and other orbiting craft, rushing forward as every Covenant Ship's plasma turret's glowed red-hot. "Hurry, open communication's with them."

"Captain," Data reported, "Covenant ships are firing."

"Oh no…."

He watched, with horror and shock as bands of plasma rained down on the surface of both the moon and Earth, burning away the land, boiling the seas, and twisting the atmosphere. Picard watched, feeling helpless (and he was helpless,) as he watched as millions of humans, the founding race and most powerful entity in the Alpha Quadrant, was burned away.

"Captain," Worf said suddenly, "The _Tanaka _and surviving starships are attempting to ram the Assault Carrier all at once."

"What?" Picard said, shocked. "Halsey should know they can't damage Covenant ships that way. Their shields are too strong!"

"But they will die a warriors death," Worf said admiringly.

Picard didn't say anything.

Instead, he watched as the surviving elements of Halsey's immense fleet, a fleet that hadn't even managed to damage one Covenant ship, turn into enormous blasts of raging fires that were quickly snuffed out by the void of space, and sheets of twisted metal and vapor.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

He was in command now.

The fate of the Federation rested on his shoulders. "What a burden," he muttered, his face straight, his iron will holding back the tears and shouts and dismay him _still_ held back. Had the Hallowed Admiral known this, he would have admired Picard for that – it took a true warrior to hold back his emotions when the life you knew, the existence of a power so great such as the Federation (by his standards,) crumbled in a month's time.

"Sir, we've finally made contact with them."

Picard smiled sadly – what good would that do to them now…. But then again, he could still save the Federation. Or at least, he could try and salvage the situation before the Covenant burned Earth to complete ashes. "Hailing Covenant Flagship," Picard said, his voice strong, "This is Captain Picard of the USS Starship _Enterprise._"

He waited.

~~ _Captain Picard of the heretical ship Enterprise… you would dare reveal yourself in the end of your civilization? What weak show of strength, do you not die with the rest of your brothers to defend your world? What business do a heretic and blasphemer such as you desire with the Chosen Sangheili Race?_ ~~

Picard paused and looked into the past, and the present, and everything that had happened since that fateful month past. So much had changed; everything that they'd known was gone, their entire way of life….

"I am here," he proclaimed, "to surrender the United Federation of Planets."


	10. Chapter 10

To VexMaster and Q8 – I'm sorry I made Picard seem like a coward. In both appearances he made, he doesn't really fight. I always felt like Picard was a diplomat than a fighter. He does fight in his first appearance (though it is a short battle,) but he has fought in the month-long war, which I didn't really go into detail. I'm considering having a side-story on the Covenant-Federation-Romulan-Vulcan-Klingon-Borg-Dominion-etc Wars.

Atheist – The Covenant is a Theocracy – what the Hierarch is doing IS something that a religious fanatic would do. He's using Salvation from God and the idea that he is God's Second Son to increase his power. Anyone who doesn't believe in him, must he purged since they are evil. Religion isn't all that bad… the constant struggle between Science and Religion has spawned so many philosophies and pushed people forward, but I admit, Religion can also be bad. I hope you enjoy the story though.

.

.

.

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

.

.

_But, indeed, you are given the power of the Holy Covenant to erase those who have embraced evil, and kill in my name, the name of your God, the Lord. _

**Final Revelations 9:12**

**The Holy Bible**

.

.

_The world was white._

_Alexander blinked and looked around, and saw nothing but pure white all around him, spreading across, like a box that's edge you could never touch. He wondered where he got that thought, and ignored it. "Where am I?" He said loudly, and realized, with a start of confusion, that his voice sounded older. He repeated his question, and indeed he sounded older. _

_He frowned._

"_Hello?"_

_Nothing. _

_He looked at his hands and saw the wedding ring from when he married Caprica-Six and Boomer. It was a simple Trinium-Carbon ring with a rare Dumandi Crystal, one of the most prized crystals in the Milky Way (Stargate Galaxy,) and smiled. That had been one of his happiest days in his life. _

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

_He paused and looked around. He swore, thought it would be against his law of swearing in the Lord's name. But right now, he wasn't the Hierarch, he wasn't the ruler of a vast Covenant Empire, the Prophet of God, the Second Son, he was just simply the orphan Alexander Reed. That was all he was right now, and he could swear all he wanted to._

"…"

"…"

"…"

"_Who the hell just said that?" He shouted._

_Nothing._

_He shook his head – what did he expect? However, after having beings look up to him, respecting him and listening to his every word, he actually did expect someone to listen and say something. _

_He growled. _

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

_Ahh… so now there were three different beings with him, one sounded feminine, the other sounded old, and the other sounded young. He looked around, expecting to see someone but saw and heard nothing anymore. He cursed and felt as if someone or, at the very least, something, was watching him. He felt uncomfortable – he was the ruler of the Covenant, the most power entity known. He abandoned his guess for a brief moment: "Who in fucks' name are you? Do you not know who I am? Talk, speak, the Son of God, the Lord of the Covenant and ruler of the Empire and brother of Jesus of Nazareth, commands you!" _

_He waited and added, "If you fail to obey, then the wrath of my Father shall be harsh and swift!"_

_That alone should have caused any sensible being to with a mind to reveal them and bow. But no one came, no one listened, no one bowed and no one appeared. They were ignoring him, and after so long, it was a strange feeling to be ignored, and he hated that feeling. _

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

_Suddenly everything changed._

_A bright flash enveloped him and he covered his eyes as he felt cold water splash over him, yet his clothes didn't get wet. He felt a gust of wind, but at the same time, he didn't feel it. He coughed as black smoke drifted into his mouth, and he felt something latch unto his skin and wrap itself around it, before vanishing. He couldn't see, everything looked pitch black._

_He stumbled back and suddenly he saw a world, one that seemed highly advanced with Forerunner spirals rising up in the distance and nearby, stone-like buildings that touched the sky, skyscrapers, all around him. He saw cars, and pavements, a extravagant church and a memorial. _

_Then he saw everything else. _

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"_What the…" he whispered, his eyes wide in fear as he saw bunkers, ruined and blackened with plasma scorched, bodies sprawled, blood of all colors running on the streets, on the wall's, in every nook and cranny. He saw the remnants of a Covenant Assault Carrier, the most powerful warship in the Fleet (save his flagship,) sticking out of the ground a distance away. He blinked, and the church vanished, to be replaced by a crumbled building, the cross sticking out, and a stone hand reaching out from beneath it as if trying to get out. _

_He stepped back, and walked into something. _

_Turning around, he stumbled away as a Centurion and several dozen other machines were placed in a pile, misshapen and bent, green blood, almost-acid like as it burned slowly through their Trinium armor, was splattered. Their pulsing red eye was gone, some were missing arms, or legs, or even heads. There was a sea of the green blood around them, but no bodies. He leaned forward and touched the Centurions, shocked and fearful._

_What had happened? _

"_**Do you truly wish to know, Hierarch?"**_

_Alexander turned and saw a man, wearing the clothes of a prior although he wasn't a John Cavil Number One Model. As strange as it was, the Hierarch could tell what he looked like, it was as if his face changed a thousand times with each second, he could catch glimpses, but he was never sure. "What is this, place, where am I, and who the hell are you? Do you KNOW who I am cretin? Do you understand the power that I have, the legions of followers that obey me?"_

_The man waved his hand: "__**Such arrogance for a amusing being such as yourself, you consider yourself so powerful, Second Son of God? I wonder if you are becoming insane, or you are still partially sane. Alexander Reed, Hierarch, which are you, do you still remember? **__"_

_He did not have time for mind games. He grabbed the arm of a Centurion and raised it, pulling a wire in the shattered arm and the quadruple-barrel of the machine gun sprang out of the wrist and fired a hail of Trinium-Carbon explosive shells. He smirked as bullet holes riddled the insulting 'Prior,' and blood sprang out. The wrist weapon spat out the last bullets as the body finally fell, torn apart. "You cannot match the power of the Second Son of God," he sneered, walking towards the body, dropping the 'arm.' "I am the founder of the Covenant-"_

"_**Arrogance.**__"_

"_What?"_

_The Hierarch felt fear as the figure rose back up, the bullet holes sealing and flesh rebuilding above torn muscle, the strange opponent grinning. He raised his hand and he felt unearthly pain coursing through his body – as if he was dying millions of times all at once, as if his atoms were being torn apart, stitched back together, and then torn apart again. _

_It was…._

_Unbearable…_

"_**What arrogance to call yourself God's Son. Hierarch, Alexander Reed, I have to come amuse myself with your future.**__" _

_Alexander looked at him, panting, on his knee's like a pitiful dog, like the bitter orphan he had been not that long ago. "What do you mean? My Covenant is… unstoppable… We are unbeatable. No Empire, nor Republic, nor Democracy or other can stand up to my might."_

_The man laughed. It was a strange laugh, one that invoked primal fear within the heart and soul of the Hierarch, and he shivered in fear. "__**Nothing but I and your God last forever. Everything must, at one point, end. And soon, in my view, your Covenant will wither and die, slowly and painfully. It will tear itself apart and you shall be forced to die or start anew.**__" _

_He laughed nastily. _

"_**Oh yes, the choice seems obvious – to start anew. But you will find that the most obvious choice is the one that will not make you happy. But if the most obvious is not the most obvious, then does that not make it the obvious? If that is so, then neither is obvious, and neither will make you happy, and then so, what will be your future, Reed of Alexander?**__" _

_Glaring at the being, he rose to his feet and shook his head. "I have my own choice, and I decide my own future – do you dare assume you can control me, I decide what I am and how I live. The choices that I shall make shall bring me God Hood, and I shall assume power above all!"_

_The 'Prior' shrugged and waved his hand in a dramatic fashion that mirrored what the Hierarch usually did. The war-torn streets seemed to melt away, and then he covered his eyes as bright light erupted from the Prior and then dimmed, and ebbed away, all at once. "__**See what your possible future holds, see what is going to happen, God and Son cannot stop destiny.**__" _

_Alexander paled and felt the urge to vomit at the scene before him. Fires raged around them, the ground was scorched and mutilated, vehicles of all sizes ands shapes from the bulky Wraith Tanks, to the hulking monstrosities of Star Wars AT-AT's and even some sort of Humanoid-type Machine were scattered about, as was blood of all colors. But not bodies, no, except for a few, the bodies from the chaos and shattered machines should have been numerous, and yet, they were all missing, or at least, most of them anyway. _

_Why?_

"_H-H-Holy One…"_

_Someone grabbed his leg and Alexander, suddenly realizing it, was back in his armor, his glorious and all powerful armor. _

_A man clutched at his armored leg, and kneeled. The man looked pale, his left eye was gorged out and his right arm was a bloody stump, while his left arm was but bare bone, and ligaments. His body, the parts that were not covered by the skin-tight leather shirt and trench coat, were slowly burning away, he could see the ribs, and the muscle as they were eaten away by the Green Blood. _

_He recognized the man, because he had watched the DVD's before the Buggers – he was amazed that he still remembered them and his world - invaded and conquered his Earth. _

_This was Neo. _

_The Hierarch eyes widened, and he looked down at the broken and dying man, and wondered how Neo knew him, and he was here. He had not yet acquired him, having not found a Matrix Dimension. He had found several possible candidates, but they were all simply variants, none of them truly Matrix Dimensions. The man clutched at him with the bony hand, coughing up blood. _

"_**This will, if you should choose him to be, become your Network Infiltrator Spy, the most lethal and effective, for lack of a better word so I will use your pitiful little world, Hacker. But against your greatest foe, something that I can easily destroy, but if I ever did, well then, where would the fun be? Let me show you,**__" he grinned, "__**what occurred a few moments before… **__" _

_There was a bright flash and the Hierarch felt Neo's grip vanish as well, and suddenly heard explosions, plasma ruptures as well as shouts and screams and roars. The light vanished, and he saw chaos all around him. "__**They cannot see you, nor can you interact with them. Simply watch this game, watch as the fruits of your Covenant end in one glorious and amusing blow.**__"_

"_What do you mean?" He demanded._

_The man wearing the Prior clothes grinned impishly. _

"_For the Lord and for Salvation, to the death!" A Sangheili roared bravely, brandishing a Plasma Blade as he pointed to a flood of misshapen figures, deformed and twisted, stumbling and skittering in the shadows as the sky turned grey and black, casting them all in darkness. A Century of Kig-Yar, 100 Kig-Yar in total, and two Squad's of humans (20 in total,) all armed with Covenant Carbines and Staff Weapons and Zat'nik'tel's, firing desperately. _

_A Century of Centurions jogged, more or less ran actually, into the fray and leaped into the shadows, brandishing their wrist weapons and extending their metallic claws as they ripped apart the shadows. But in quick, succession, they too, were tore apart and their Trinium armor was melted away. _

"_What heresy is this?" He whispered angrily. _

"_**A plague that will shall and most definitely destroy your Covenant.**__"_

"_Silence!" _

_The man smirked. _

"_**Let me shine some light upon your enemy…**__"_

_He raised his hand and a beam of light shot down from the sky and illuminated the shadows. He felt sick as he saw the unknown foe – a withering mass of what used to be Sangheili, but deformed and mutilated. Tendrils withered in the center of their chest, their skin grayed and decayed. Sinewy tentacles were clustered around their right arms, and their claws were extended._

_The warrior's head was pushed aside, hanging limp and pulsing veins covered its silver armor. It held an Energy Pike in its hand, and pierced a Centurion, pulling the extended blade upward, ripping it in half. The creature, the former Sangheili, tore the blade out from the sides and fired at the Covenant warriors._

_A Kig-Yar flew backwards; its body from the neck down up to its knee's, burned away instantly. _

_A Wraith rumbled behind the small Covenant Force and fired a bolt of high-intensity plasma in a smooth arc, and splashed on the engaging monstrosities and Centurion's, boiling them both away to a small number. _

"_See the resolve of my Covenant!"_

_The man in the Prior clothes simply yawned. "God will punish you, the way you act and insult the Covenant of the Chosen, and when I learn of where you belong, what world you exist in, you shall burn in a thousand hells. I know not how you infiltrated my mind, but I will push you out."_

"_**So you say… so you say…**__"_

_Alexander growled in response. _

"_To the distance!" A Kig-Yar hissed, it's Xeno-Communication Translator, part of the Neural Implants, activating. The Kig-Yar pointed to the sky as a shattered hull of a Centurion was thrown and smashed into the bird-like alien. _

_The Hierarch looked, and raised his hands to his sides, his cloak bellowing as a large starship, an Executor-class Star Dreadnaught, burning and its hull blackened, rushed down from the sky, and smashed into the ground. "__**Do you understand now? This is your future, I decide your fate. This is all amusement for me, nothing more, and nothing less.**__"_

_The Hierarch felt sick. _

_But as a Son of God… he was strong. A blade shot out from his wrist armor, razor thin and made of Trinium-Naquadah-Carbon composite. There was some Neutronium mixed into it as well. _

_With quick precision, he plunged the blade into the man's chest and twisted, enjoying the look of shock in his face. He grabbed the blade, cutting his palms against the sharp edge. His eyes widened as the Hierarch grinned savagely, and pushed the blade upwards, blood trickling down his hand and his arm. He cut through bone and flesh, and watched with glee as the man kneeled, gasping for breath as images flashed all around them. _

_With great reluctance, he retracted the blade and let the body fall. He looked at it with disgust and shook his head. "As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes. To destroy the afflicted with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is right," he sneered, "Isaiah 32:7"_

_He turned around and looked around at the new whiteness that replaced the images, emptiness. _

"_**Evil, evil, Good, Good – do you really believes those foolish words that come out of your mouth? You are not God's Second Son, you are simply a Orphan from another Earth, one you are still afraid to go to, because you cannot bear the pain of seeing your devastated world.**__"_

_Alexander turned in shock. It was impossible – the man should be dead! And yet before his eyes, the man grinned and rose up, the deep slash he had made in his body sealing up, and his blood evaporating. "What heresy is this?" He said angrily, "How can you still be alive? You are dead, are you the spawn of the Devil? What blasphemy is this?"_

"_**You are a foolish man, an idiotic mortal-**__"_

"_I am GOD'S SECOND SON!"_

"_**Of course you are…**__"_

_Alexander growled in anger. "__**I will amuse myself with this – why do you not go back to your Earth? You have, if I remember correctly… no wait, I'm positive, near 2 million followers on it. These Prawns, or Buggers, or Aliens, whatever you want to call them, although they are simply a different evolution of the Reetou, have begun to make your people slaves.**__"_

_The Hierarch froze and paled beneath his mask. He remembered his home… his life…. Was it only just a quarter of a dozen years ago? He remembered when he left it, the state it had been in before, the half of the Bugger… Reetou… ship crashing into the US, and the destruction and genocide of his people. He hated them, the Reetou from his Home Dimension. They had wiped his people out… but then again, was it not for them, he would not have formed the Covenant, soon to be the most powerful entity in the known dimensions and galaxies._

_But still… _

_For all his power, he still was afraid to go back. He had failed there, failed to destroy God's enemies and save them. He hadn't returned because, if he did, how would the people accept him? Devastated by alien invasion, the leaders of the world's religions dead, would they embrace him? He still harbored his memories of it, his life as a orphan, all still fresh and too recent. _

_He sighed. _

_How could he be so weak?_

"_**Hmm, time's up,**__" the man said slowly, "__**Seems that my little game is starting to take a turn far from what I expected… no wait, I did expect that.**__" He laughed, "__**The Imperium… against the Goa'uld, the Empire and the…. Well, what a interesting game, so much… amusement.**__"_

"_What are you spitting out now demon?"_

_The man waved his hand. _

"_**Remember that for your arrogance and too far dream, you will pale to the power, my power, as Keeper of the Void.**__"_

"_What?"_

_He grinned. "__**What you saw is just one thing… see others, the finest and the worst, although eventually, it will come to this.**__"_

_The Hierarch saw a bright flash and he saw glimpses…. Flashes… images that moved… all of them passing by before he could really see them, melding into each other as they changed, slightly, or dramatically. He saw himself in one, with millions, possibly more, of different species bowing before him as his flagship loomed overhead escorted by twenty Executor-class Star Dreadnaughts at its flanks. He felt awe and power emanating from him, and smiled. _

_Then the image changed, and it was almost the same, except that there were fewer alien species, most of them Jaffa, and the sky was filled with Ha'tak's and such. "All Hail our God!" The crowd roared as one, "One God above all, Conquer of the Old Gods and defeater of the First Son, the Hierarch!"_

_Alexander paled. _

"_What in blazes is this?" He shouted. _

_The man snickered. _

"_**Possibilities…**__"_

_The Hierarch looked at the Keeper, confused by this vision. Then the image changed, and he was on a world that was slowly being burnt away, legions of Covenant Sangheili led by Horus Guards, dozens of humanoid-machines leaping and flying into combat. A crisscross of plasma and bullets and bombs filled the sky, smoke rising up into the sky, holy warriors dying as their shields were overwhelmed and drained away within mere seconds. _

_Their opponent was – to his shock and pain (he wondered how many times he would be surprised,) he saw humans wearing a stylized blue uniform. On their arms, they had a Starfleet insignia with the words 12__th__ IMPERIAL OFFENSIVE FORCE around the edges. "Heretics, you shall die!" A Sangheili roared as it threw a plasma grenade. "You and your Imperialistic Empire shall fall!" _

_He blinked. _

_Imperialistic Empire – was this the Mirror Universe of the United Federation of Planets, the Terran Empire? _

_Interesting… _

_Very Interesting…._

_The image blurred and he was in orbit, on his flagship, except that it seemed different, larger and more ornate. He looked around as the Keeper of Void smirked, and gazed out of the large 'window.' He saw a hundred Assault Carriers, Baseships, Destroyers and Battlecruisers, Federation and Klingon Starships, Star Destroyers and Star Dreadnaughts, Borg Cubes and Ha'tak's of all types engaged in a enormous and terrifying battle, against a equal number of ships of impossible design, as large as his Carriers, and many more even larger. _

_Plasma weapons, drones, and drone-like weapons crisscrossed open space, swarms of fighters blasting across hulls and shields alike. It was terrifying, and awful, horrible and intriguing at the same time. "__**You can hail your opposing vessels if you so desire,**__" the Keeper of the Void said, "__**You can interact, if you want to.**__" _

"_Truth?"_

"_**Truth.**__"_

_Alexander cleared his voice: "__**Hail opposing vessels-**__"_

_**In the name of the God-Emperor, for the Galactic Imperium, you and you pathetic Covenant will crumble!**_

"_What?"_

_**The Great Emperor, conquer of all that stands before him, will decimate your Covenant as he has done to other Empires. No one can withstand the fury and the desire of the God-Emperor, for what he wants, he shall get for he deserves it, and only he.**_

"_Impudence!"_

_**DIE!**_

"_**Time to go.**__"_

_The image changed, and they were back in emptiness. "In the name of the all-seeing Father, what just occurred?"_

"_**Possibilities.**__"_

"_What do you mean? Answer, do not use cryptic remarks!"_

_The Keeper waved his hand, brushing him aside. "__**I have overspent my time here little insect.**__"_

"_How dare y-"_

"_**Wake up,**__" he thundered. _

_._

_._

_._

…

…

…

…

"Sir?"

…

…

…

…

"Holy One?"

…

…

…

…

"Illustrious and Exalted Hierarch?"

…

…

…

…

"Great One?"

…

…

…

…

"Are you awake yet?"

…

…

…

…

"Perhaps this is a good time to kill him – we do not need another Goa'uld to take over… yes… now is a good-"

…

…

…

…

The Hierarch awoke abruptly and sat straight up in his Gravity Chair in the bridge of his flagship. "Tok," he caught himself quickly, "what brings you here? Have we arrived at the selected system? Have we made contact with those who embrace God, and the heretical Orbital Weapon as of yet?"

The Tok'ra spy bowed.

He saw a small syringe slid in a pouch at her waist; no doubt she intended to kill as he slept. He blinked – when did he fall asleep? He did not remember falling asleep while traveling…

He sighed.

"Yes Holy One," The Tok'ra said, "we are coming in orbit around the world known as Tegalus, and the heretical Orbital Weapon will come into view in one minute. The probe orbiting the Tau'ri Homeworld detected a Hyperspace window, they are sending their flagship, this _Prometheus _to this world. They will arrive within two hours, minimum, Holy One."

The Hierarch smiled behind his mask.

"What occurred in the series… shall not happen here," he muttered to himself, soft enough so that only he heard, "_Prometheus_ shall survive Ethon, and soon, when the time is ripe, shall willingly join the Covenant when I finish all tasks. I shall let them have their glory, it amuses me…"

The Tok'ra looked at him, confused. "Holy One?"

He looked at her – had she heard him?

She looked back.

"Sir, what shall we do now?"

Ah… she had not noticed him… that was excellent. If she found out, well, he would just kill her.

"Contact Field Marshal William Tek'nor," he ordered to the Tok'ra Spy, "Prepare all Troop Ships for planetary deployment, and begin to bombard the heretics with all Strikecraft."

Then the Hierarch dismissed her, and the Tok'ra bowed and left. "I will toy with these heretics's long enough for the _Prometheus _to arrive, so I can show them the strength of the Covenant – by destroying the Ori Orbital Weapon. Thus they will understand the folly of believing in False Gods, and rejecting the hand that I gave to them, to save their souls."

He smirked.

All was falling into place.

He paused and remembered… the dream?

He paused.

…

…

…

…

"Keeper of the Void…" he whispered, watching the Cold War-era planet below him, "Soon, God will take his vengeance and burn you, cleanse you of evil. You will suffer eternal damnation."


	11. Chapter 11

To VexMaster – A tribute (and by your request,) to you – I hoped you liked the little inclusion.

To FishGod – Yes, the Hierarch's arrogance will grow and grow, and he will slowly become insane.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

_But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth._

**Exodus 9:16**

**.**

**.**

"I have a signal from Doctor Jackson's locator beacon," Major Womack said as the BC-303 USS _Prometheus _dropped out of Hyperspace. The famous (or infamous depending on what species you belonged to,) Battlecruiser roared forward from the window and towards the world Tegalus.

Colonel Pendergast nodded in approval. So the Doctor was still alive – which was good considering that he had been sent to hostile territory. "Beam him directly to the Bridge," he ordered.

""Yes, sir."

Pendergast leaned forward and waited as the rest of SG-1 stood behind him, waiting, waiting for their team member. The familiar white beam of a Asgard Beaming technology flashed before them, and they waited eagerly for the safe return of their friend.

Instead, the beam dissipated and Daniel was no where to be seen.

"Where's Daniel," Vala said, her smile withering away.

Suddenly Mitchell walked forward and picked something up from the floor where the Asgard Beam had been. He lifted it, shook his head, and turned around to show his team. Sam's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I take it," Mitchell muttered angrily and a bit disappointed as he held Daniel's locator beacon, "that this mean's things aren't going so well."

He passed it Teal'c who too had a worried look on his face.

"Coupled with the fact that we haven't heard from him since he left two days ago…" Carter added slowly.

"Sir!"

"What is it Mark's?" Pendergast asked.

"We've located the satellite," Marks reported.

The commander of the _Prometheus _nodded and glared as the small shape of the Ori Orbital Satellite quickly began to grow larger. He leaned back on his chair and took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Lock unto target," he ordered, barked actually, as Womack nodded and targeted the weapon.

Teal'c stepped forward.

"Yes, Teal'c?"

"This will be perceived as an act of aggression against Rand," the stoic Jaffa said, his voice rumbling as he looked at the Ori Weapon. Pendergast glanced back at the Jaffa and nodded. That was true, and with Jackson in the hands of the Rand, it could lead to potential trouble. But they could use the Stargate to invade where Jackson was being held and rescue hm – once they destroyed the Super Weapon first, of course. Those were his orders.

Carter grimaced: "We could be risking any chance of negotiating for Daniel's safe return."

"We have a back-up plan," Pendergast half-lied, hoping to calm the nerves of the SGC's flagship team.

The crewmembers on the bridge of the USS _Prometheus _were as still as an impasse, waiting, unmoving. "Target has been acquired, sir," Womack reported to Pendergast, tapping several keys on the touch screen console.

Pendergast turned to Carter who was at his side. "We've got the satellite dead to rights. We could hail them and ask for Doctor Jackson in exchange. That is," he said, "if you want to."

She gave him a look.

"That would not accomplish the goal of this mission," the Jaffa said.

Mitchell shifted his P90 and sighed. "Jackson knew it might come to this, we knew that relations 'tween us and the Rand weren't all that swell. He told us to proceed no matter what."

Cater rebutted – "He wouldn't want us to trade his life for thousands, possibly millions, of Caledonian's."

Pendergast rubbed his forehead. "People, Colonel's, it's your call. All I'm asking is that you make up your minds quickly. I don't want to see that weapon being used against us when the Rand learn that we're in the system. I read the past mission report, they have basic ground-to-space sensor technology. I don't doubt we have that long before they try and activate the weapon."

Suddenly a console began to whine and a series of high-pitched 'beeps' began to come from it. Womack began to panic. "Sir, we're detecting a power build-up from the satellite," she warned.

Pendergast cursed.

"Seems they have better sensors that the old report," he muttered. Carter leaned and squinted over Womack's shoulder's, scrutinizing the graphic of the satellite that was displayed on her screen.

"Its altitude is changing," Womack said.

"Sound General Quarters," Pendergast said to Mark's as alarms and klaxons began to blare, and the lights in the bridge dimed under the heightened level of security. "Full power to the forward generators and maintain course and speed. Prepare for impact."

"Yes sir!"

Both Mitchell and Pendergast looked to Colonel Carter for advice. She shrugged hopelessly. The plans that Jarrod had given them (he was with Daniel,) didn't give them any sort of numbers or details on how _powerful _the weapon that the Ori satellite discharged was. It could just hit the shield harmlessly, overwhelm the shield, or, in a worst case scenario, blow the shield and blow up the _Prometheus_. If they lost the 303, then the _Daedalus _would be the only ship Earth had, and it was mostly on supply runs to the Pegasus Galaxy to support Atlantis Base, and with the Wraith a constant threat, the DSC-304 could be expected to defend Earth since it was needed in the Pegasus Galaxy too.

She gulped.

Pure silence.

Mitchell took initiative: "Do it."

Pendergast nodded.

"Fire!"

"Firing missiles!"

.

.

.

Outside of the _Prometheus_, two Missile tubes on the 'neck' of the starship hissed out of the interior of the great vessel, and their magnetic seals slid to the side. A burst of fire erupted from the tubes and a trail of gray smoke shot out as two Naquadria-enhanced Nuclear Missiles streaked across space. They flew straight up and curved slightly before they wheeled back around and sped toward their target: the Ori Super weapon.

The trails they left behind them spliced across the vast void of space before they converged on the satellite. The satellite was a massive spinning wheel bisected by a central column that possessed a golden, spinning disk on its top. It wasn't sleek as the initial design had been, but with the lack of the elegance or sense of beauty that the Ori possessed, the Rand had made the device ugly. But it was s till functional and just as deadly.

The missiles impacted on some unforeseen force just short of the satellite's surface, bursting into flame as a golden shield appeared in a half-circle around the weapon, and absorbed the massive explosion and erupted. The blast flared and flashed before it was sucked dry by the coldness of space.

The people on the bridge paled in shock. Womack checked her weapon screen and shook her head in dismay. "The missiles detonated prior to impact, sir. No damage to the satellite at all."

Pendergast was flabbergasted.

"How?" He demanded.

"It looks like its being protected by a shield," Carter whispered, eyes wide, "This is a new defensive capability, must have just been recently added. I mean, I knew it had a shield generator, but it didn't seem to be possible for the Rand to build It, it looked to be too complicated for them…"

"The Ori must have helped them," Teal'c reasoned.

The _Prometheus_ command rubbed the back of his neck: "Okay people… now what do us do? Those missiles were the strongest type of weapons in our arsenal; none of our weapons are AS strong as them."

Everyone looked away.

No one had an answer.

"Sir, I'm detecting a release of energy!"

"Brace!"

…

…

…

Womack frowned suddenly. "Sir, the weapon isn't targeting us… it's targeting something else."

Pendergast was surprised: "Who?"

They watched as a blob of light emanated from the barrel of the column, as the weapon turned away from and a large shadow appeared, moving away from the far side of the planet.

"Sir, I'm detecting a new contact," Marks reported. His eyes widened in shock, "Sir… it's huge."

"How big?" Vala asked.

"Around 14 kilometers," Marks reported.

"So…Big?"

The crew members on the bridge watched as a golden-yellow beam of energy was discharged from the underside of the column and arc towards the new contact, the new s hip. "Sir, that energy beam is powerful enough to overload the Asgard shields and cause severe damage to the ship!" Womack reported.

'_So worse case scenario,_' Carter thought grimly.

The large opposing vessel flew straight into the beam and smashed head long into the beam. The group gasped as golden shield flared over a small portion in front of the prow of the massive warship. It was contoured over the sharp point, and vanished as soon as the weapon stopped firing. "It must have powerful shields," Pendergast muttered, "if that would could overwhelm the Asgard shields of the _Prometheus _then they must have stronger shields than that."

"A valuable ally?" Teal'c asked.

"Maybe," Mitchell said. "I wonder why that ship isn't firing back. If I was them, I would be pretty pissed that they scratched the paint job. I wouldn't let them get away with that."

They frowned.

"Can we hail them?" Cater asked.

"Try it."

"Yes sir," a Major said from the communication console. "I'm hailing them on multiple frequencies… and I am waiting…"

1 second…

2 seconds…

3 seconds…

4 seconds…

…

…

…

8 seconds…

9 seconds…

10 seconds…

11 seconds…

12 seconds…

"Anything yet?" Vala asked, a bit bored, ignoring the look Mitchell was giving her for her tone.

"No," the Major said.

She paused and quickly added, "Correction, we do have talk! It's not coming from the ship itself sir, but the surface!"

"From who – the Caledonian's, the Rand?" Mitchell asked.

"Neither."

"What?"

The Major flicked a few switches: "A moment, I'm switching to internal loudspeakers in the bridge… there."

A pause.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Vala spoke – "I don't hear any-"

_Screech…_

_Screech…_

_Screech…_

…

…

…

_~Advance forward, join the Sangheili Legion! ~_

_~ This is Field Marshal Tek'nor of the Caledonian Reinforcement 4__th__ Legion, all units advance! Forward Assault Plasma Gun Carriages, yes – you Wraith commanders, - reinforce the Kig-Yar Cohort. ~_

_~Squawk – hiss – snarl – his-hiss-hiss. ~_

_~Sshoot! ~_

_~For Salvation! ~_

_~Hail, hail victory! ~_

_~For God! ~_

_~Sangheili warriors, do not falter, advance into the heat of combat! ~_

_~Contact Seraph Strikecraft! ~_

_~Bombard this area! ~_

_~Enemy contact, the heretics here are numerous! ~_

_~Forward, forward! ~_

_~For Caledonia! ~_

_~Destroy the Rand Blasphemer's, wipe them out, purge their existence from history, and burn them! We shall cleanse their unholy taint from this world and stop the spread of false God's! ~_

_~The heretics have launched missiles! ~_

"Missiles?" Pendergast said, "Who the hell is the Rand fighting?"

"Caledonian's?" Mitchell said, taking a shot.

_~Fire Long Range Artillery, full plasma charge! ~_

"Last I remember, the Caledonian's don't have Plasma-based technology, they are a few generations behind us, and we don't have plasma weapons," Sam said. "So they must be being helped."

_~For God! ~_

_~For the Hierarch! ~_

"Turn it off," Pendergast ordered.

"Yes, sir," the Major said.

She terminated the intercepted communication.

"Hang on, wasn't the guy who came before the guy who told us about the Ori Weapon, called the Hierarch? Did he say he was the Son of some God, and that he had some important business here?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, you're right Vala," she sounded surprised; "He said he had some business to take care of at Tegalus. I wonder… I wonder if that's his ship. Jarrod said that the Caledonian's had embraced religion as well, they could have embraced the Covenant's way of belief and the Hierarch could've come to defend his supporters when the Ori Weapon went online."

Teal'c grunted – he did not trust the Hierarch. Anyone who declared themselves to be the leader of a religion; added to the fact that he said he was the Son of a God, most likely a false God. Worse than that, there were Jaffa serving this liar, when they should have been free and helping the Free Jaffa Nation grow strong and hold together from the lies of the Ori.

He did not like the Hierarch.

Womack said, "Sir, the Ori weapon is charging, it's preparing to fire again!"

Their attention turned as the Ori Weapon gathered more power, and prepared to fire on the new super-ship again. "Sir, I'm detecting a _massive _power build up emanating from the alien ship. The alien ship, I think, is… no, wait, yes – it just targeted the Ori Weapon."

A single beam erupted from the tip of the large alien ship just as the golden beam was fired.

Both beams smashed in the middle of space and a bright glow erupted as the two beams struggled or dominance. "Return power to the engines," Pendergast ordered, "get us closer to the weapon and fire with all portside Railgun batteries and Mark IX missiles."

"Yes sir."

The _Prometheus _vibrated as the engines roared back to life, having drifted in space for a few minutes, and roared closer. Just as the missiles were prepared to fire, the beam being fired from the alien ship overtook the Ori beam and smashed straight into the Ori Orbital Satellite. The golden shields flared, covering half of the weapon in a golden glow and purple shadow.

"Whoa," Vala uttered as the beam sliced through the shield and burned away at the metal and plastic and glass and powerful energy source. The Ori Weapon didn't stand a chance – it was cut in half. Explosions rippled across the hull as the weapon crumbled and pieces were torn away, spinning in the vacuum of space. "Sir, I'm receiving a transmission from the unknown ship – it's on all frequencies, unencrypted and for all to hear."

"Then let's hear it."

"Yes, Colonel."

~_Hail and heed to all who listen. The weapon of the False Gods, those that would dare challenge the all seeing eye and majesty of the One Lord, of the God above all Heretical and False Gods, has fallen to the Truth of the Covenant! Heretics of the Rand, leave your Evil ways - ~_

"That proves it – it's the Covenant," Sam muttered.

~_The Ori are not God's, they are false and liars, they would force you stray from the embracing love of God! If you fail to renounce your corrupt ways and join us in eternal Salvation and begin the Great Journey to ascension, to cast off the shackles of Evil, then you shall be cleansed! _~

The communication ended.

"Arrogant guy, ain't he?" Mitchell muttered.

"Get us away from that ship," Pendergast ordered as the Covenant ship began to accelerate.

"Yes sir."

"What about Daniel?" Vala asked.

Pendergast frowned.

He was about to say something when the Major reported that they were receiving a transmission from the surface. ~_Uh, hello? This is Daniel Jackson, can anyone hear me up there? _~

"Sweet Jesus," Mitchell said, grinning.

~_The Rand have surrendered, most of their leadership committed suicide. Jarrod is taking over right now. I'm ah, going to go through the Stargate back to the SGC. Thanks for the help. _ ~

"It wasn't us."

~_What? Then whose doing all the shooting up there? _~

"The Covenant."

A pause.

~_Oh, them? I should have thought so, from what I learned down here, the Caledonians joined the Covenant. I heard the message the Hierarch sent down here, and almost everyone is giving up… hang on, someone's activating the Stargate…_ ~

.

.

.

"Hallowed are the Ori."

Jarrod and several Rand Security Guard's aimed their rifles at the Prior as he stepped through the Stargate. Daniel jogged up behind them and paused, his eyes laying on the Ori Prior. "I have come to inspect the progression of the weapon – is it completed as of yet?"

"It is destroyed."

The Prior looked at Jarrod. "You rejected the will of the Ori." He raised his hand and his eyes glowed. "**The Ori are displeased. You embrace a False God, and choose to spread Evil. You must be punished."**

"Fire!"

A stream of bullets was spat out from the muzzles of the Assault Rifles and Jarrod's Semi-Automatic Pistol. Daniel watched as the bullet were stopped in midair, hovering as the Rand rifle's clip ran dry. "Reload!"

"**Do not attempt. You fail your God's,**" the Prior said, his voice echoing. The Prior was currently being possessed by the Ori, Daniel realized, shuddering. "**Now you shall be punished.**"

Before he could do anything though, a beam of light enveloped the Prior, and he vanished. The bullet casings dropped to the floor as the Prior uttered a final roar, and was gone.

~_The Prior's of the Ori shall die for their faith to False Gods,_ ~ the familiar and cruel voice of the Hierarch said over the underground bunker's speakers, ~_The Prior that dare to unravel the work of the Covenant here, is now dead, and his body now burns and screams in the deepest levels of Hell. Those who saw, Jarrod and Daniel Jackson, know and spread what you have seen. The Covenant has saved you and your vessel – for you have great potential – enough for me to consider you to join the denizens of the Holy Covenant Empire. _~


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, not my best chapter. I'm VERY sorry.**

**.**

**.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

_You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it._

**Exodus 30:9**

The Hierarch was brooding, listening to the worlds of the Prior John Conner and Prior Cavil. Cavil had gone to join Conner in the Terminator Dimension, to aid the conversion of the many humans in the Milky Way-TD Galaxy. The Goa'uld, too, also existed in that dimension, and was much stronger than the Goa'uld in this reality since they had not fallen into disarray with the death of Ra. Of course, things were far different in that Empire than what he expected.

An example would be the presence of the Replicators.

He frowned.

Ra had not fallen in the late 1990's, and continued to rule, unchallenged by any of the other System Lord's until 1999 with the startling rise to power of Sokar, who fell in 2002 with the return of Anubis. Ra led Apophis, Yu, Cronus, Amaterasu, Camulus, Heru'ur, Ares and Moloc against Anubis.

Anubis himself had gained allies amongst the System Lord's who feared him and desired power for themselves. His allies were in the form of Ba'al, Bastet, Kali, Marduk, and Morrigan.

Whilst his forces were smaller than that of the Goa'uld Empire, Anubis and his technology had kept Ra at stalemate, unable to beat Anubis decisively.

The Hierarch sighed.

The war had gone on for a decade, in the Terminator Dimension, and the two Goa'uld Empire's weren't the only other force in the Milky Way. The Asgard were a endangered species, holding unto a handful of world's at the rim of the Milky Way when their enemy, the Replicator's overwhelmed their forces in their Galaxy, and followed the Asgard to the Milky Way. Both Anubis and Ra were fighting off the Replicators as well, and were slowly losing.

Of course, what else did they expect? The Aschen had been decimated by Apophis, the Eurondean's had defeated by the Breeder's, and Naquadria had become a staple in the Goa'uld Empire when Cronus discovered the Naquadria-world. Without SG-1 or the SGC to interfere in the affairs of the Galaxy, the Goa'uld remained dominant. They had not discovered Earth's location yet, and it would do them no good if they did find it since he had already abandoned that Earth. Most of the surviving population, those who embraced Covenant, had been brought to Primo Solis, and the planet itself had been cleansed.

Not a single living thing remained on it.

He would have rather kept the world as a staging point for the continuing Crusade against the Goa'uld there, but the world was too devastated to be of any real use to him sadly enough. But in replace of Terminator-Earth, he had sent two High Charity-type City-Ships in orbit. Twelve captured Goa'uld Motherships, improved on with the Holy Technology of the Covenant and eight captured Galaxy-class Starships had been sent to secure a foothold.

The Ha'tak's had their Staff Cannons removed and replaced with Plasma Cannons and two tubes that held one hundred Drones. He had been convinced by the Hallowed Admiral, who was finishing off the remnants of the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire, that all Covenant vessels should be equipped with a ZPM, or at least those in the Crusade. So his Ha'tak's and Galaxy-series had the crude ZPM's as their power source instead of Plasma Reactors. That gave them superiority over the Goa'uld as well as the Replicators and Asgard. The Galaxy-class starships had their crude Phasers removed and replaced by Plasma Cannons, and their Quantum Torpedoes replaced with a Drone Launcher of one hundred Drones.

He frowned – he relied too much on his plasma weapons and Drones. But they were powerful, and what else did he need?

He leaned back on his seat as Cavil and Conner continued to make their report. They had made contact with a reptilian-like species in the Tau Ceti system known as 'The Race' and cleansed the world when they refused, outright, to join the Covenant. They had been a primitive race, using late 20th century technology with crude Slower-Than-Light Starships and relatively advanced terraforming technology. "Nothing that would be useful," he muttered.

"… Whilst it saddens me that the Race had to be purged," Conner continued, "It is their folly. We encountered a stray Replicator vessel 52 light-years from presumed Replicator Space. It was well within the Goa'uld-Ra territory, and seemed to have assimilated two Ha'tak's."

"What of it?"

"Whilst we were able to destroy the initial Replicator vessel as well as one of the Replicator-controlled Ha'tak's, the other seemed to grow resistant, and it took twice as many hits as the previous ships. Holy One, I fear that these beings are attempting to adapt to our weaponry. They seem to absorb the energy, and while we are able to burn away at them, in a short period of time, I have no doubt that our Plasma Weapons will be ineffective against them."

"Heresy!"

"I do not lie, Cavil," Conner said hoarsely.

"You must, what beings dare stand up to the Covenant's wrath? The fury of the Lord would smite them!"

Conner frowned. "Arrogance and pride are sins," he warned Brother Cavil. "Be wary for you tempt to stray from Ascension. The historic texts say that Goa'uld were in far less numbers than in this unholy of replica Galaxies. They outnumber the full forces of a Crusade Fleet by thrice, while the Replicator's assimilation of all technology, and forgive me for saying such heresy, is becoming near equal to that of our most basic technology."

Cavil opened his mouth but the Hierarch raised his hand. "You Holy One," Cavil muttered beneath his breath.

The Hierarch nodded, "It is truth – the Replicators' do seem too able to adapt as the heretical Borg do. Do you not fear heresy Prior Conner; the Replicator's were once a threat in this dimension as well." He paused remembering something, "Perhaps we can use assistance…"

The Priors stood up abruptly, shocked. It was evident in their actions, their pale eyes, their faces. "Holy One, Great Hierarch, the Covenant does not need assistance. Our will and faith is strong, our sheer belief in the Lord will protect us from Evil. The Empires in this dimension and the Ori in the Home Dimension, and then we will finally eliminate those who believe in False Gods."

"Truth!"

The Second Son frowned beneath his mask.

Their belief was strong, and admirable, but he feared that their sheer blind loyalty would be the end of them. As in the Boxer Rebellion of Ancient China, he foresaw that eventually, they would entrench themselves too deep in religion, and throw themselves in blind fervor to their deaths. And that, he could not allow – it would be the first of many signs that his Covenant was falling apart…

He frowned.

And that…

That he could not allow.

"The Tau'ri possesses a weapon capable of destroying Replicator's," The Hierarch said, "a weapon they used to wipe the Replicator's in this dimension. As we do not fear the Replicator's, for eventually, no matter how hard a battle shall become, we will always emerge victorious. But I do not wish to lose many lives – take your war to the Goa'uld Empire's and purge them all. Allow none to survive unless they are willing to acknowledge their False Godhood and repent for their sins. The same goes for the Old Asgard."

The two Priors nodded and bowed once more.

"Yes, Holy One."

The hologram vanished and the Hierarch sat alone.

The Crusade in the Stark Trek Dimension was finally winding down, Picard and the crew of the _Enterprise _were being kept in the brig of the Flagship of the Crusade Fleet, and the Borg were finally being backed into a corner. The Dominion continued to elude them, however, and the plague they used impeded the Holy Advance. But the cure was in ample supply and it was only a short distraction. Even as he spoke, the Hallowed Admiral was sweeping aside the overwhelming numbers of the Dominion, winning each and every battle.

The real that was that they outnumbered the Crusade Fleet 5:1 and whilst their technology was just as inferior as the Federation, their sheer number had cost them ships. Twelve ships had fallen to the Borg, and two Destroyers had been lost to the Dominion. "But that is a small number out of 2000," he said to himself, musing, "small losses that are easily replaceable."

He thought.

He had gone to four other dimensions (not including his home dimension,) and of those, entire he had only gone to conquer the Milky-Way-TD Galaxy. And he had only just begun, just started to solidify his hold. He frowned. He was waiting too long, the Covenant, whilst large to the rest of the Empire's he planned to bring into the Covenant, was still small in his eyes. He desired it to be grander, and an Empire to stand for ten million years.

He sighed in regret.

He had changed the series too much – the fact that Mal Doran was NOT in the Ori Galaxy (as she should properly be,) and was, instead, still in the Milky Way…. It changed everything. She would not meet Tomin, nor would she give birth to the Orici, to Adria, and it would make the Ori Crusade far more different. The Ori would not be able to 'sneak' one of their own to the mortal planes, and thus, the Ori would be weaker without Adria's assistance…

**.**

**.**

**.**

_He hated Stealth Corvette's. _

_Whilst they were invisible to even Asgard Sensors (at least those down-graded ones used by the Tau'ri of Earth,) it was like he was an orphan once more, hiding, cowering in the shadows to avoid abuse. His eyes flared – but that was long ago, and the only reason he was doing so was to inspect this stand off – the SG-1 Episode __**Beachhead**__. He had done his research, and he had a entire database of episodes and specifications and rumors from his world and the other Earth's such as that from Star Trek, Halo, and even Terminator. _

_He knew near everything. _

_He saw everything – and that made it easier for the denizens of the Covenant to revere him. Two Number Four Humanoid Cylon Models, Simon's, manned the four different stations in the bridge. While he didn't need their help to control the vessel, they HAD bought this ship themselves, and he respected their ownership, and as such, allowed them to be within his presence. _

_The Stealth Corvette had ablative armor that spread the damage from both energy and plasma based weaponry across the hull, which prevented a single mass of energy from hitting a single area of the ship. It had two meters-thick Trinium armor interwoven with Naquadah and elements of Neutronium he managed to find. Neutronium was a rare metal in this galaxy and most of the galaxies stockpile of Neutronium was in the hands of the Asgard. _

_The engines were of standard models. But the ship's method of FTL travel was different, it lacked Slipstream Drives. Instead, it used a cut-down version of a Direct Drive, capable of going up to 100 light-years in once jump. It was slow, yes, but it could make several consecutive jumps in one minute. And it had enough of the unstable Naquadria for five minute's of jumps. They can cross the entire galaxy within minutes, if Naquadria weren't so unstable and dangerous to use. Because of its unstable properties and the difficulty of adapting it to mix with the Direct Drive, the real (and the safest jump range) was a mere 45 light-years. _

_Tylium did not exist in any of the dimensions other than the Battlestar Galactica one he had saved the Cylons from, and even there it was rare. To make up for that, they used Naquadria. _

_One of the Cylon's stepped away from their stations and walked before him. He was wearing a plain black suit and a red tie. "Your esteemed Hierarch," he said silky, tilting his head slightly, "I have detected three Hyperspace windows opening up above the world – Ha'tak vessels belonging to the Free Jaffa Nation… "_

_The man had awe in his voice, "Just as you predicted."_

_The Hierarch waved his hand – he loved his dramatics: "Indeed, for what I see I see from my Father in the highest Heaven," he said, "I trust that they were bombarding the Ori planetary shield?" He went on as Simon opened his mouth, "Do not speak, for already I know the answer. Increase power to Sublight drives and move us closer to the four ships."_

_Another Simon-model turned from his station, confused. "But there are only three Ha'tak's in orbit."_

"_The __**Prometheus **__is here…"_

_The Cylon checked his screen and nodded, eyes wide. _

"_You truly are omnipresent!"_

"_I see what the Lord allows me to see," the Hierarch corrected, "The Lord, the All Father, only gives me images, glimpses. Can we intercept communications from this distance?"_

"_But of course."_

"_Intercept."_

"_By your command."_

…

…

…

…

…

…

_~- I repeat! SG-1 is on the planet attempting to negotiate an Ori withdrawal. Cease Fire now! ~_

_Ahh…. Pendergast, meaning the USS Prometheus, the Tau'ri Flagship, their first true Interstellar-capable warship. It was old ship, the first and only of it's design, and ugly compared to the other Interstellar ships, but it had a certain beauty that other ships lacked in it's crude design and straight lines. When the time came, he would prevent it's destruction. _

_He would not allow the Prometheus to be destroyed. _

_The next voice he heard came from the planet: ~The weapon is now in mode 1. Prometheus, we are ready for beam up. Prior! Last chance! ~_

_Following that was the command of the lead Ha'tak. "I am Gerak, of the free Jaffa," the Jaffa said bluntly, his voice lacking the honor and pride most Jaffa tones had, ~Why have you come here? ~_

_He ignored the next few minutes of conversation, focusing more on the planet as the Sublight drives went back to sub-standard levels. He wanted to be kept in the shadows for as long as possible – he was here to watch, not to interact. But if things changed from what he remembered, from what he saw, he would ve forced to interact. He could not allow any significant changes to occur. _

_As he saw, Gerak was just as arrogant in real life. His actions would allow the Ori to be beginning the formation of the Supergate, but through the help of Vala (who would give birth to Adria in the future,) the Supergate would be destroyed before it could be completed. _

_He smirked. _

_The Ori Shield had begun to envelop the planet, the enhanced nuclear warhead and the staff cannon blasts had done its proper job. Once the time was right, he would kill Gerak. _

_The Jaffa was too arrogant and prideful to exist – and would only be a slightly greater threat when he became Prior. His own Prior's could easily handle them, but he didn't want to take any chances. _

"_Holy One, I'm picking up activity from the planet's surface."_

"_Three objects… four… five, an increasing number have left the surface, and are accelerating towards the Ha'tak'-class ships and the Tau'ri-vessel. There does not appear to be any life signs or internal space," a Simon report, "their estimated size is about 10 meters."_

"_Perfect," the Hierarch crowed. _

_The Simon's looked at each other in confusion but shrugged it off. _

_Carter's voice swam into the bridge: ~-they are about ten meters long. But sensors read no internal space, no light signs aboard. ~_

"_Without the Lord to lead them, they are behind us," A Simon Model laughed. "What fools?"_

"_Indeed," another chuckled. _

_The Hierarch said nothing. _

_~Rail guns to defensive fire mode! Stand by to launch fighters! ~_

_~One of them is on a collision course! ~ Marks said, clearly alarmed _

_Cater spoke again: ~I can confirm that. 1000 meters… 500 meters… 200 meters.. ~ Fear was evident in her voice. _

_~Sub-light engines to emergency thrust! Brace for impact! ~_

_The Hierarch watch the holographic image before him and, amused, watched as one of Gerak's Ha'tak's were destroyed as the parts of the Ori Supergate zipped upwards, the ship's shields offline. Several smashed into the Asgard shield's of the Prometheus, and the shield's flared, barely holding. _

_One piece, to his surprise, smashed into the Stealth Corvette with such force that the shield dropped a significant amount. _

"_The shields are holding," a Simon model announced, frowning, "but our cloaking field has failed… incorrect, they have returned." He took a deep breath; "Sir, I believe that the Tau'ri vessel may have detected us."_

"_What?"_

"_Holy One… listen!"_

_The Hierarch paused, listening. _

_~What did you do? ~_

_~We did nothing Gerak. ~_

_~Two of my ships have been destroyed, and my own flagship has been heavily damaged – we must withdraw! ~_

_The Hierarch nodded in approval – things were still going on track... despite the fact that one of the pieces had hit his ship. He hoped it wouldn't cause too much change, but based on how things were going, nothing seemed to have changed. He wanted to enjoy himself. _

_Things were going on course, and soon the planet would begin to shrink and the Prior would be killed in sacrifice to his so-called Ori 'Gods.' He could use this chance to study the Prior's powers and find a way to create his own Anti-Prior device to integrate into his armor. _

_He raised his hand, and activated the ship's Asgard Beaming technology. There was a beam of light before him, and he smirked behind his mask as the faint outline of a Prior appeared. Suddenly, though, the outline became hazy and collapsed – and the beam evaporated with NO Prior. _

"_What happened?" The Hierarch demanded. _

"_The Heretic is… outside the ship."_

"_What!"_

"_Somehow the shield that is devouring the planet interfered with the attempt to extract the Heretic. There is also interference from what appears to be a singularity as well."_

_Before his eyes, he watched in horror as the shield began to retract, suddenly. The planet was half the size it had initially been, and stopped shrinking. He growled in fury, shaking as the ship shifted a slight moment, and the pieces that would of – that should of – formed the First Ori Supergate drift apart. One crashed into another, creating a small explosion that took out another nearby piece. He withheld a scream of fury as the events of Beachhead did not go as planned. _

**.**

**.**

**.**

He withdrew himself from his memories and entered his private chamber, ignoring his two wives who were playing a holographic-version of the game 'Battleship.' Instead of the usual pieces, there were Covenant warships. Boomer was winning, clearly, since Caprica had a sole Base ship left to Boomer's Assault Carrier, and two Covenant Destroyers.

"Welcome back, my love," Caprica said, happy to see him and happy to leave the game before she lost. Boomer smiled and stood up. "Three days since I – we – last saw each other. Did you-"

"Not now."

They were taken aback: "I'm sorry?" Boomer said. She and Caprica-Six were shocked by his attitude. "Is something wrong?"

"Is there something we can do?"

They smiled suggestively.

"No. Leave me be." The Hierarch said coldly, removing his mask. The flashback to that particular day, the day he accidentally changed the SG-1 series, had suddenly put him in a bad mood. "Return to your childish game or go somewhere else, do not disturb me."

Caprica huffed, irritated.

"Now!"

They bowed slightly. "Yes, you're Holiness."


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Thank you VexMaster for reviewing! **

**Colin: That is an issue with Godly people. But the Hierarch doesn't think he is a god, but God's son. So he will have to adapt, but he was counting on everything going as it did in the series. He didn't plan for him to have affected the timeline in such a manner. **

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster. **

**.**

**.**

_"For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth._

**Exodus 9:15**

Dakara…

Dakara was a renowned world, known across the galaxy for various reasons, reasons that were good and bad.

It was known to all Jaffa as the world where the end of the centuries-long Goa'uld Empire began, where the Free Jaffa Nation was formed. It was the end of the Jaffa's dependence on symbiote, the end of the implantations and forced the Jaffa to depend on the Goa'uld. It was where the Goa'uld lost their image of the Gods, and where the Replicator's met their end.

It was a world that was the capital of the Free Jaffa Nation, the world that was the most illustrious and glorious in the entire Galaxy. At least, it was in the eyes of the Jaffa who saw no other majesty comparable to it.

To the Jaffa, it was the greatest world above all. It was where Jaffa Freedom began and endured.

It was the home of a weapon that the Jaffa guarded, the weapon that had allowed them to defeat the False Gods and the Replicator Curse they had sent. Millions of Jaffa existed on the world, living on it, peacefully and free from the lies and the false temptations of Gods.

But it was also a terrible world.

Before the rise of Ra, Dakara had been the capital of the Supreme System Lord Apep, absolute master of the Old Goa'uld Empire. It had been the site where the predecessors of the Jaffa, the Una, had been implanted with infant Goa'uld. But that was long ago, when Apep still lived. After his fall, it remained the site of Jaffa implantation, the symbol of their slavery.

Now…

Now…

Now it was the site of their freedom.

Dakara… where legends were made…

Deep in the heart of the central mountain, where the Main Temple (dedicated to the ancient God Apep,)

Bra'tac sat at the head of the table, about 5cm raised from others, wearing a plain maroon-brown colored robe. To his right was Rak'nor, a Jaffa General, and the proxy for Teal'c.

There were others, including Kar'yn, the first and only Free Jaffa General in the history of Jaffa, pre-enslaved and post-enslavement. She sat next to Bra'tac, wearing a skin-tight robe which, to the regret. The ministers were sitting around a large circular table, with a podium in the middle.

A middle aged Jaffa, fully armored, stood there. He bore a mark of the long-since dead False God Heru'ur, otherwise known as Horus. He was speaking passionately to the Jaffa..

"Once again, we were triumphant! The mislead brothers under the thrall of Doruan, the Underling of Ba'al, were liberated and despite their misguided belief in attempting to defend their God, we have brought them to Dakara so they can taste the sweet taste of freedom."

He raised his hand into the air: "It was a glorious victory."

Bra'tac nodded sagely.

"Well done, Karrok," he said. "Your efforts in liberating those Jaffa have been greatly rewarded. Eighteen thousand Jaffa have joined us in our war against the elements of Ba'al and the Ori. Our praise," he added, "is to you."

Then he looked at Rak'nor.

"What is our next move?"

Rak'nor stood up to answer.

"Our fleet has suffered no great losses in this latest campaign. Two Ha'tak's were lost of the thirteen we sent to subdue Doruan," he said, "Eight Al'kesh were destroyed and two wings of Death Gliders were lost as well. But I am afraid," he said mournfully, "that two hundred of our brothers and sisters fell in combat. Whilst they are low losses, it is still a terrible loss."

"Indeed it is," Kar'yn said. "What did we capture?"

"Rak'nor?"

"Four Ha'tak's and one Cheops's-class corvette," he responded, "Including thirty seven Al'kesh and eighteen Death Gliders." He smiled, almost a smirk. "It is a great haul is it not, which benefits the Jaffa?"

"Indeed it is," Karrok responded. He turned to the female Jaffa General. "And what news from the assault on one of Ba'al's underlings, Mars? It is going well, I presume, correct?"

The female grimaced.

"Incorrect."

Karrok growled: "What!"

"Mars has put a greater resistance than anticipated. Two of my ships which were supposed to reinforce us for the assault on the main world of Mar's territory, did not arrive because the Ori have converted the world's they were stationed at. As such, we lost the battle."

Karrok raised his fist. "How can this be?"

"I was lesser in number by five Ha'tak's," she said, angrily, "and-"

"You were led by will power and Jaffa who was free," Bra'tac interrupted gently, "two Ha'tak's does not matter. What matters are how you lead them…" he sighed, "perhaps the females aren't ready to lead the Jaffa s of yet. Perhaps, in time…. Perhaps you should resign."

"What!"

"Indeed," Rak'nor said somberly. Of course, he didn't believe that. He listened to Teal'c, and Teal'c believed that the females were ready to lead the Jaffa. They had proven themselves before in battle; he had seen that for a fact. Master Bra'tac was being a little unfair.

He voiced his opinion.

Karrok roared in anger, but Kar'yn cut him off: "Five Ha'tak's are a great amount, we were severely outnumbered. We managed to hurt them, yes, but those two Ha'tak's we missed were those of Anubis-designed. If we had them, we would have surely won, but we did not, and now the Prior's of the Ori possess those vessels. If the Ori use them, then we will suffer great losses in the future."

Rak'nor agreed.

Karrok growled, and almost roared in fury, but Bra'tac stood up and slammed his fist on the table. "ENOUGH!"

Everyone became quiet.

"We can deal with the Underling in the future," he said gravely, "but the threat of the two enhanced Ha'tak's possesses takes priority. My previous apprentice, Teal'c, has planned next series of assaults against Ba'al's territory in the Delmar nebula and the three fortress worlds in Golla XI-A region. He has convinced the Tau'ri to send one of their warships to aid us. This assault, my friends, will begin in a weeks time when we can solidify our hold once more…"

*_Cough_*

Bra'tac turned his head to Karrok who remained on the central podium. He waved his hand towards the Jaffa. "Is there something that you wish to say? If it is so, say it, for us all equals here."

"Is it wise to trust the Tau'ri?"

"What do you mean?" Rak'nor demanded. "Is it wise to trust the Tau'ri-of course it is wise! They were the ones whom Teal'c the Great trusts, and they have become a great power. They aided us in the defeat of the System Lords, they aided us in the creation our very nation!"

Karrok sneered: "But why would they show such kindness?"

"They are honorable warriors," Bra'tac said.

"Indeed they are," Kar'yn said.

"It was my experience in the service of Her'ur that kindness only comes from those who desire something in return," Karrok argued.

"It is not the way of the Tau'ri!"

Karrok sneered: "So you say."

_Glare._

_Glare._

Suddenly, a Jaffa came rushing in full armor, panting and out of breath. He was a young Jaffa, possibly recently finished training.

Bra'tac stood up."What is it?"

"My apologies, Master… I mean, High Chancellor Bra'tac. We just received words that two world's there considering joining the Free Jaffa Nation, world's that were colonized by Jaffa recently, have fallen!."

Rak'nor stood up as did Kar'yn as well and they both demanded an answer from the Jaffa. "What do you mean, fallen? Was two Ha'tak's not positioned above each world, as well as a number of Al'kesh? Those were on our frontier, two thousand Jaffa were living on it, enough warriors to survive for thousands of days! How can this be possible at all?"

"Was it Ba'al," Karrok snarled.

"It could be an Underling," Bra'tac uttered.

The Jaffa shook his head.

"Then who?"

He rubbed the back of his head. He seemed nervous, a bit ashamed. The small group of Jaffa narrowed their eyes. "Great Generals, we do not know who the attackers were, but we certain they were not Ba'al or any of his underlings."

Bra'tac rubbed his temples.

"Then who?"

"The hundred survivors who returned through the Chappa'ai report that they were attacked by Horus Guards," he said grimacing. "They used not Staff Weapons, but a longer and deadlier weapon. They were protected by some sort of personal defensive shielding."

Horus Guard's?

The Jaffa shuddered at the thought.

The Horus Guard's were the deadliest warriors in the Galaxy, the strongest and most powerful of all Jaffa Guard's. The Horus Guard's were the elite of the elite Jaffa, the strongest, fastest, smartest, and merciless. Under the rule of Ra and his son, Her'ur, the Horus Guard's never lost a battle; they destroyed and conquered all that stood in their way.

Before the Horus Guard's, however, the Jackal Guard's, the demons of the fallen System Lord Anubis, were the strongest. But the Horus Guard's had triumphed and purge all of Anubis's Jackal Guards centuries ago, which had eliminated Anubis finest warriors and caused his exile. When Ra died, the Horus Guard's had defended his Empire from Cronus, Apophis, and Heru'ur. Many died in the battles, and those who survived went into the service of Her'ur. In order to supplement their numbers, lesser Jaffa was recruited into the Guard's, and so did decay the legend and superiority of the Horus Guards.

"I cannot believe this either," Bra'tac said angrily. "Who would use Horus Guard's; the survivors of that order have been exiled to border worlds without a Chappa'ai. And the armor is rare, only a handful of Jaffa have access to the armor of the Horus Guard's these days."

"Truth," Rak'nor agreed.

They paused, thinking. The young Jaffa, not wanting to overstay his welcome, bowed and quickly fled without their saying, not that it mattered to them. To their knowledge, the Horus Guard's were a dead order, replaced by the Serpent Guard's who too fell in short order. They knew of no species, humanoid or not, even in the Lucian Alliance underground.

Then Bra'tac groaned.

"What have to say?" Karrok asked.

He smiled warily. "Not long ago, Teal'c came to me and reported that the SGC had been invaded-"

"See," Karrok muttered.

"-by _Horus _Guard's," he continued, ignoring Karrok's remark. "They were in the service of a rising Goa'uld, I presume, who called himself the 'Hierarch.' He is a threat to the Jaffa, now I remember. Forgive me for this old Mans tiring mind, I cannot remember as well as I used to."

.

.

.

_**Two days later….**_

_**Golla XXX-AB Star System (Golla a)**_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

_Crackle…_

.

The sixteen Free Jaffa armed their Staff Cannons as they crouched behind a small series of hedges, peering through a Tau'ri 'binocular' they had traded with for small amounts of Naquadah. Bra'tac growled in disappointment as he saw a small number of Jaffa tied to posts, head's hung in shame.

They were in the middle of what was an early Jaffa Settlement, a large number of domed houses formed in a circle. He saw two bird-like aliens, the size of a 10-year old, guarding them.

They barked and hissed in a strange language, like a dying beast, with long clawed hands and hoofed feet. Their eyes were wide and crimson in color, with erect head fins. On their right wrist was a round circular device, the size of a child's palm. In their clawed hands, they held a long, unusually shaped weapon. The barrel of the weapon was very long with its scope located on the top.

It was purple-hued, long and sleek.

It was….

Unnatural.

But right now, his focus was on the Jaffa.

"Dishonorable," Bra'tac muttered, "how can they treat Jaffa in such a manner? We must restore their honor."

"And we shall Master Bra'tac," Rak'nor uttered.

The aging Jaffa Master gripped the long handle of his Staff Weapon, and hissed in alarm as beams of blue-white light appeared in the center of the settlement, and vanished within seconds.

Behind it, twenty _Horus Guards _stood in their lights place, holding long, sleek spears in their hands. They looked like Staff Weapons, but their size indicated pikes, and they had a metallic head, like a bayonet attached to the top, and a small hole beneath it. He guessed it was the firing barrel.

"Be ready," he whispered, "on my word, we strike and liberate!"

"Yes," Rak'nor whispered back.

"Kree, Jaffa, heed my words," a Horus Guard barked, slamming the rear of the pike on the ground. "You have survived, you stayed and fought with honor, and the Hierarch see's it fit that you be given the choice."

'_Choice_,' Bra'tac thought.

"The choice," the Guard continued, "to either live in peace and harmony as a citizen of the Covenant, to die when Soldier's Time is called, to serve in the name of the One Lord, the Father of the Hierarch and creator of all, or to die honorable deaths, and take the chance of Heaven or Hell. Choose wisely," he added gruffly, "for if you choose to live in Salvation and learn, and live a life free of lies, you will be given a perfect chance to ascend into Holy Heaven."

Bra'tac heard enough. "JAFFA!" He screamed, rising from his position and raising his Staff into the air, "FREE YOUR BRETHREN!"

With a roar of approval, the sixteen Jaffa ran from their hiding places, golden bolts emanating from the barrel of their weapons. Three bolts crashed and burned away at one of the bird-like aliens. The creature screeched in pain as it was thrown meters back from the impacts. The other creature hissed and jabbed its right wrist, and, to Bra'tac surprise, a blue-shied appeared, with two semi-circle niches at its sides, pulsing blue, the circular device, the shield emitter, glowing gold. The creature took position behind it, and leveled the rifle behind the shield. Bolts smashed into the shield, and it flared, but held.

A needle-thin beam shot out from the barrel and Bra'tac moved to the side, only for the beam to hit a middle-aged white Jaffa behind him and gasped. The Jaffa screamed as a thin, scorched hole appeared in the center of his chest, slicing through the metallic armor like a knife through the Tau'ri 'butter.' It fired two more beams, and two more Jaffa fell back, dead.

The Horus Guard's weren't waiting. One of them, the one that had been speaking, was caught off guard, and fell back, multiple bolts impacting on his body. He howled in pain as his armor was burned off, and died. Bra'tac snorted as he ran and leaped into the air, raising his staff, and brought it crashing down on another Guard, only to be grabbed in midair and thrown backwards, smashing into other Jaffa. The other Jaffa fired their staffs, screaming and yelling, only for the bolts to smash unto a greenish shield that contoured across their bodies.

"Jaffa, Kree!" The Horus Guard's screamed. They leveled their pikes, and electricity coursed beneath the bayonet. Bra'tac groaned as he rubbed his neck, helped up by the Jaffa he had fallen on, only to tumble back as a blue energy bolts erupted from the Horus Guard's pike, and burn a clean hole through the Jaffa, blood and gore splattering over Bra'tac.

The Horus Guards walked forward, their green shields flaring and absorbing the golden impacts. But the Jaffa lacked the personal energy shield technology, and in quick succession, the Jaffa were whittled down to a mere handful, then eight, then five, then two, and finally a near coconscious Bra'tac (not including those Jaffa who had previously been captured,) remained alive.

"Jaffa, traitor," one of the Horus Guard's growled, stepping up to the fallen Master Jaffa who was leaning on the dead body of Rak'nor, eyes wide in despair and shock at the quick skirmish. They had lost… they had lost despite the fact that their will was strong and their cause just. He looked up with tired and weary eyes at the helmeted Horus Guard, and said hoarsely; "Who… who are you, Jaffa? Why do you serve a False God?"

The Jaffa growled.

"The Lord is no False God. His son, the Second Child, brother to Jesus, the Hierarch, serves his Father. The Covenant is formed of the Chosen Races, we live to serve him for once we die in the service of God, we shall ascend on the path to eternal Salvation by walking to the Great Journey. Our war against those who resist Salvation, and against those who follow the true False Gods, these Priors of the Ori, will be cleansed by our Holy Hands."

Bra'tac grimaced and spat. "Lies."

"_So you say… Bra'tac, teacher of Teal'c, co-leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, and former First Prime of Apophis._"

The Honor Guard's became erect, and bowed; their helmet's retracting as their foreheads touched the ground. The Jaffa Master could only guess why, but it came to him quickly.

He didn't even turn around.

"You must be the Hierarch," he said.

"_Indeed._"

He heard the man chuckle darkly.

"_I will show you the folly of attempting to resist peace under One God, under One Lord Master Bra'tac. Kree, Jaffa, let the prisoners go, but first bring them to me, do you understand?_"

"Yes, Holy One."

"Do not listen to False Lies, do not bring your brothers to this False God," Bra'tac pleaded, "Do you not see? He is not a real God, he is as false as Apophis and Sokar where. He may seem to possess Godly powers, but so did Anubis, and he was killed, killed!"

But the Jaffa ignored him, to his pain, and brought the others before the Hierarch, glaring defiantly. "_Defiant to the end Jaffa,_" he said, sneering, "_I commend you, your society produces fine warriors, those they pale to that of the Sangheili, the greatest of all warrior-races, bred and trained to fight, all of them warriors of their own will, not slaves as you._"

"How Dare YOU-"

The Hierarch raised his hand, and a beam of enveloped the Jaffa, and he vanished from sight. "What did you do?" Bra'tac demanded.

"_Go back to your worlds,_" the False God said, ignoring the Jaffa Master, "_Spread of what has occurred. Know that your Master Jaffa, Bra'tac of Chulak, is now in my custody. If you desire to have the Jaffa Master back,_" he said proudly, "_Then you must accept Salvation of the Covenant, and arrive on Primo Solis. You must shed your old ways and embrace a new way._"

Glaring, the Jaffa were let go, and, before they could even attempt to attack the Hierarch to free Bra'tac: "_Attempt to free your Master now, and you shall join your brother in the deepest levels of Satanic hell. So is the fury of the Lord, who sent the Flood when he first lost faith in the human race. And let me warn you all, he is losing faith with the Tau'ri._"

Bra'tac was confused.

What did he mean… the Lord was losing faith?

"The Tau'ri… bows to no Gods," he hissed.

"_One God, above all_," the Hierarch stated simply. He placed his hand on Bra'tac's shoulder, and the Jaffa felt the grip tighten suddenly. "_How can it be possible?_" He hissed, below his breath, but loud enough for Bra'tac to hear, "_How could he steal the __**Enterprise**__ and flee the defenses? You shall be punished for your failure; he is most likely attempting to reach the Tau'ri. He will be too far gone to reach him, and we must concentrate on the coming Counter-Crusade… I was willing to be lenient on Picard… now he shall die."_


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**To those of you who thought Picard was a weakling (And I mean mainly you oh great and mighty VexMaster, this Chapter changes all that.)**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster. **

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

_Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires._

**2 Peter 1:4**

**The Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

Pipes… Pipes and wiring everywhere, all with a silver metallic look, alien in shape and design. They were everywhere, all around him, they seemed to be alive. They pulsed, a bright color, familiar… so familiar. All of it was… no, felt distant, as if centuries ago, but at the same time so close. He wondered why it… and then, out of no where, it struck him.

At once Captain Jean-Luc Picard knew where he was as he walked into a familiar space, still harshly silver, and stared into a face which he knew all to well. He was in the Borg Queen's main archive, located in a top secret place. The room may have been familiar, with its cold and dank atmosphere, but the equipment and electronics were all new to him. To his right he saw a flat and hard bed with green wires all around it and needles jutting up through various, but obviously well-thought out, places. At the tip of the bed was a sort of head band with green electrical currents running around the edges of the band.

To his left he saw a chair that was reminiscent of the old electric chair, but instead of being made out of wood, it was constructed of twisted steel and metal. Plastic pipes protruded from the arm rests, apparently see-through, and made to support whatever was meant to sit in that chair, but for what reason? Up at the tip of the chair, where the head is obviously supposed to rest, there were what appeared to be long (about one foot long) and bendable screwdriver looking mechanisms.

All of this was in addition to a dark green glow, electrical current, flowing throughout the chair. The only other oddity of difference that he noticed was the curving piping above him. Certain sections of it were not green or grey or silver, but rather they were of a dark red nature. Red was a color that was not commonly associated with the Borg, so this was indeed unusual. Strangely, Picard recognized that shade of red, but couldn't quite place it.

"Welcome, Locutus," shot a voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was a voice Picard knew well. He stood in silence as some of the varying wires and electronics came together to form the queen of the Borg collective. In her usual sultry and seductive way she approached him and leaned in, coming abnormally close to Picard's face as if to kiss him.

Instead of kissing him, however, (and he was thankful,) she blew very softly onto his lips, which sent a cold chill down his spine as hundreds upon thousands of memories flooded through his brain. He felt disgusted and violated-and shocked. Wasn't she dead, hadn't she fallen with the Borg? After about ten seconds she pulled back and looked at him for a while, with that seductive half-smile on her face. He wanted to tear thank smile off her face/

"You will be mine soon…once more and we shall be joined together again," she whispered softly.

She started to walk around him slowly, as if examining him.

"See anything new," she asked of him?

Picard stood in silence, pondering the question.

"Oh come now Locutus," she snapped, "give me some input. Or is it too much for your frail human brain to process?"

After a little while, Picard finally opened his mouth: "Why am I here?"

"Your petty little brain's capacity has palpably reached its limit," she said in apparent disbelief, "Why do you even ask the question, when you know why it is that you are here?"

Feeling more determined, Picard replied: "Can't you understand? Locutus is gone, finished, a thing of the past. I refuse to give into you little mind games. I am, and always will be, Picard, an officer of Starfleet, not a mindless Drone of the Borg." And feeling braver than usual, he added "And besides, the Borg is gone, we defeated you and freed your slaves."

"Don't be so sure of yourself," she replied in her usual tone, "Whether you refuse or not is no longer up to you, for I hold the ace in this particular situation and you will soon find out that there is a fate awaiting you that you cannot, even in your wildest of dreams, attempt to prevent or stop from coming."

She forced a twisted smile and waited for his response.

…

…

…

"What is all of this," he asked after a while?

Pleased with the question, she replied: "I am sure that by now you have heard of the microchips that are becoming standard regulation for every Starfleet officer to have implanted. It activates as soon as one is assimilated or comes into any direct contact with our neutralizers and rids that person of all of their past memories that might give us any information or any advantage over Starfleet. Quite ingenious I must say, even by my standards. These new devices you see around you in here are a new breed of torture, only the most brutal. They are designed to tap into the brain of the vessel with which we contain and to extract key memories in order that the person might remember something. But for that we need a certain access code for the chip… One that I know that only you and select others hold. It is said to be indecipherable, we shall see about that."

With that Picard started to grow faint, and started to stumble from his dizziness. The last words he heard were: "You will surrender to us soon", as he woke up in his quarters from the evident dream that he had just had. Or was it a dream?

He sat up in his bed and realized that he was sweating profusely from head to toe. He sat and pondered what he had just heard for a while, attempting to determine whether or not it was a dream. He shook his head and sighed. Of course it was a dream-it had to be. The last he heard from his captors, the Borg were in the process of being wiped out from the Galaxy. The Covenant had already defeated the Dominion, and the Borg were the final threat that existed. He wondered why Q hadn't interfered. He could have eliminated the Covenant just by moving their fleet into the center of a star, eliminating the threat and saving the Federation. But he didn't, and now the Federation was a memory now.

In the service of a religious order known as the Covenant.

He sighed.

He looked around his quarters, bare and near empty except for a few essentials, which was expected. After he surrendered the Federation in order to save Earth and allow what was left of humanity to keep their culture alive, the _Enterprise _had been boarded by Covenant soldiers. He remembered that… that moment…. Just a few minutes after the Federation were gone, when the massive Covenant Flagship, the Assault Carrier covered the small starship in its shadow.

Ever since the Covenant War began, and they began to board starships, the Federation had installed two hundred crewmembers whose sole duty was to deflect boarding attempts and prevent sabotage. Two hundred military personal, an actual military force, on a ship whose primary duty had been to explore and negotiate, was unthinkable to Picard.

But things changed, and the war, however brief, changed the Federation. Rifles and Pistols alike were used to defend his, their, ship. But the Covenant were too strong, too numerous. Their energy shields, shields that covered their entire bodies, held against Phaser's that should have vaporized them, against multiple beams! No matter who well-trained the MACO's were, the Covenant were just too strong. One of their 'Elite's' were worth more than a dozen MACO's, and that was just without their shields, without weapons.

With them… they were unstoppable.

After the _Enterprise _had been boarded, the leading Elite, this 'Hallowed Admiral' had personally come aboard the bridge and demanded Picard. When Picard didn't go, he activated a energy sword and sliced off Worf's Head. He still remembered that… the shocked look on the Klingon's face, the neat cut that cauterized the wound, that cut through flesh and muscle and bone like nothing. The look on La Forge's face when he accidently grabbed Worf's head, and dropped it. He had known that the Federation was gone, he had, but it suddenly hit him that the Covenant wouldn't allow their culture to survive. They would replace it with their own, and those who didn't accept would be punished…

Worf's dead, glazed eyes stared back at him.

…

… Punished severely.

And so he had given himself up. To his surprise, the Elite didn't kill everyone else, but put some sort of handcuff on them and hauled them to their ship. In a crude bridge that was ten times the size of the leading Elite, a complete waste of space in the eyes of Picard, they locked them up behind a Force-wall.

They had been stuck there, alone and isolated from the rest of the galaxy. But while there, they did managed to overhear guards talking and he listened intently, hoping to catch glances of the galaxy at large. Nothing he heard was reassuring, nothing seemed to be going bad for the Covenant. He heard that the Dominion, the Borg, and several other smaller Empire's were crumbling under the Covenant onslaught. They were a war machine that could not be defeated. No one in the galaxy, except the Q (and where were they,) could hope to stop them.

So they waited prisoners in an alien ship that was conquering the galaxy in a silly religious order. He tried to plead reason, telling them that religion wasn't the key to knowledge, that it was only going to hold them back. All it got him was the death of two his crewmembers.

After that he didn't say anything else.

That is, until two days prior.

.

_It was freezing. _

_It was as if cold water was suddenly flashed on him, and the world grew smaller and smaller until it exploded, expanding again. The two guard's wearing the strange bird-like helmets didn't seem affected, and neither did Data. Picard groaned and his groan was met with those of his crew. "Data," he moaned, holding his head in his hands, "do you know what that was?"_

"_Negative, Captain," the android said. _

_Great. _

"_What happened," he said, deciding to question the guard's after a few minutes passed following the strange sensation. "What was that feeling, was it your FTL Drive activating."_

_The Guards looked at each other briefly and shrugged. _

"_Dimensional Jump."_

_He frowned. _

_Dimensional Jump?_

…

…

…

_What was that?_

_He didn't have any time to think, however. _

_The large ornate doors leading to the bridge chimed and slid open, the edges glowing as two of the bird-helmeted Guards walked in. "Kree, Jaffa," they barked, slamming the butt's of their pikes on the floor. "Leave, now. The Great one, the Hierarch, wishes to speak to them alone."_

"_Yes, mi lord!" The Guard's barked, slowly walking out. The newcomers followed them, and the doors slid behind them shut. The entire crew of the Enterprise stood up and walked towards the front of the force wall. Their eyes were drawn to the door, waiting for it to open and for them to see the face of their conqueror, the deluded man who believed in a God. _

_1 minute…_

_2 minutes…_

_3 minutes…_

_4 minutes…_

_5 minutes…_

_6 minutes…_

_7 minutes…_

_8 minutes…_

_Eight minutes that seemed like a life time, and yet, no one came through the door, not another Guard, and not the Hierarch. Picard frowned. What sort of leader came late when his guard's announced his arrival? It was rude, and showed that the leader did not possess the capability to lead. Where he in charge, he would have arrived as soon as the guard's left. _

_Besides that, he would not have allowed the Covenant to invade the Federation for some silly God. _

"_**Waiting, are we?**__"_

"_Of course we are-"_

_Picard froze. He didn't recognize that voice, and he recognized the voice of all his crewmembers. This voice… this voice didn't belong with them. And it had a hint of a metallic tone to it. _

_Slowly, he turned around. _

"_**And so you saw, the Son of the Lord,**__" the Hierarch said lowly, standing behind everyone, his cloak covering his body. His intimidating helmet, which sent a shiver down Picard's spine, glared at him, at all of them with burning red eyes. "__**Picard, do you know who I am?**__"_

"_You are the man who-"_

"_**- Is bringing peace and order to the Federation, and the galaxy,**__" he interrupted, "__**Yes, I am. I am the illustrious most Holy of all beings save my Brother and the All Father. I am the founder of the Covenant, the greatest Empire to span the dimensions, chooser of the Chosen, and hero to all.**__" His eyes flared. "__**Indeed Picard, I am the Hierarch.**__"_

'_A bit dramatic,' Picard thought. _

"_Now you see here-"_

"_**Truly you surprised me,**__" The Hierarch said, interrupting him again. "__**The Covenant is kind, we are peace-lovers, not war-mongers like the Romulan's or the Klingon's whom, I must say, have not put even the slightest interruption in the Crusade. They, as the Dominion and soon the Borg, will fall. For the Covenant's Crusade here is just, and we will prevail. Whilst the Crusade was inevitable, I would have rather not ended your Federation in such a manner."**_

"_How?" Picard said angrily. "As a slave kingdom?"_

"_**Not as a slave kingdom, slavery is not condoned in the Covenant for it is the greatest of all sins,"**__ he roared angrily,__** "I would have you rather become a protectorate, your culture and way of living intact, your leadership alive, but your society and worlds under the control of the Covenant. This war was needless, and would not have occurred if you had not provoked it."**_

_Picard winced, and then glared defiantly. "Even so, war would have come despite our stance against it. The Federation would never submit to being ruled-we have lived on our own rules for centuries and have lived happily. Weren't not for protection, we would not need weapons."_

"_**Is that so? There is no changing of your mind?**__"_

"_None," he spat. _

_The Hierarch waved his hand, and Picard felt something hit him, slumped to his knees, and became unconscious. The last thing he heard was: "__**Let us see your fate in the Religious Court….**__"_

…

_..._

_..._

…

_Picard groaned, and looked around. _

_His vision was blurred, and he was being dragged on his feet. He winced as his foot hit something, but that hit seemed to clear up his vision. He blinked once, and saw his hands tied in a loop. He looked up and saw the armored back of a Elite, wearing red-yellow-orange armor. _

_He was thrown against a wall, and bared his teeth as he held back a wave of pain, and heard the gaps and growls as the rest of his crew were thrown against the wall. The dots that blocked his vision vanished, and what he saw actually cracked a grin on his face. _

"_Mechanical humanoid," the Elite growled, grabbing Data as he attempted to push him. Data didn't move at all, and just stood there; his foot planted in the ground and standing perfectly still. _

_Picard laughed loudly, to his surprise, which also surprised the Elite, and gave Data the opening he needed. With quick precision, he wrapped his arms around the neck of the Elite, and twisted. The Elite gurgled as the bones in its neck were snapped and its head hung eyes wide in pain. Data dropped the body of the dead Elite, and reached down to its waist and pulled out a strange triangular shaped device. He touched the tip of the device to the loop, and the loop fizzed out and vanished. "Impressive Data," Picard chuckled, "remind me to never upset you."_

"_I shall remind you, Captain," Data said as he touched the device and Picard's handcuffs vanished. The Starfleet Captain rubbed his wrists at Data freed the rest of the crewmembers. "Oh, Captain, this might prove useful for you," Data said, throwing a device as large as his two hand's combined, at him. _

_Picard grabbed it in midair and looked at it. It was sleek, and purple-bluish in color tone. It had two fins sticking out of its sides, with an orange 'trigger' (the best word he knew to describe it,) and seemed to be of two semi-circles intertwined with each other at the middle._

_He squeezed the trigger and an uncontained, sluggish, bolt of plasma shot and splashed on the other side, the metal boiling away, the edges glowing. "An impressive weapon," Picard muttered, astounding. _

"_I know the way out, sir," Data said as he freed Riker, "shall I lead?"_

"_Do so Data."_

_For the next hour, the hundred crewmembers made their way to where Data said the hanger bay. The few Covenant troops they encountered, he and Data quickly eliminated, policing their weapons and armor. When they got back to Earth, the resistance that was surely forming would be interested in learning how these weapons worked. With them they could repel the Covenant in the future. _

_Picard, however, was wary. _

_They had encountered only two dozen or so Covenant soldiers, and being on a warship, he expected to meet hundreds if not thousands, maybe a few dozen at every turn, and that worried him. _

_Where was everyone?_

"_Halt, Heretics!"_

_Picard groaned and turned, aiming the alien weapon and squeezing the trigger, firing a steady stream of plasma as several other crew members including Riker fired either the same weapon or a along pike. The two bird-helmeted Guard's crumbled to the deck as the sheer impacts boiled away at their armor and their flesh, going through the other side easily. _

_A Guard ran to the sound of the weapon discharges, saw the two bodies, and moved his hand to press a green crystal in the center of his chest armor. Just as he did, numerous bolts impacted on his body, a green shield flaring at each hit, before it vanished and the guard died. _

"_Personal shields," Picard muttered. _

"_Captain, we have to get out of here before more come!" Riker urged, holding his weapon close to his chest. _

"_Yes Number One. Data, how much further?"_

"_Around this corner to the Hanger Bay, presumably. We should find a ship there we can… borrow." _

_Picard grinned and shook his head. _

_Not wanting to be on this ship for much longer, the large number of Starfleet officers ran the corner, trampling two bird-like aliens underneath their feet. Picard's heart soared when he saw a familiar saucer-shaped ship in the Hanger Bay, and the words U.S.S. ENTERPRISE stenciled on the front. But his joy quickly turned to determination as thirty Covenant soldiers entered the bay on the opposite side, firing pot shots. Several of those pot shots killed several of his crew. "Get to the ship," he barked, pointing to a ladder leading to an open life pod ejector, "Those of us with a weapon stay back and we'll be the last ones to go in!"_

"_Yes sir," Riker shouted as he threw a captured Plasma grenade and watched as it exploded, taking out three of the bird-aliens and half of an Elite. Picard and others ducked behind crates and boxes for cover as the Covenant warriors did the same. Two more crewmembers were killed from Plasma fire, and a third was maimed. "Shall you continue to resist, you shall perish in the pits of Hell! The Lord will punish you severely heretic!"_

"_So you say," Picard said sneering, firing the final plasma bolts from the weapon, discarding it, and throwing two plasma renegades. To his disgust, but also he understand why, he took great pleasure in hearing their animalistic screams of pain and suffering. They deserved it-killing so many innocent people in the name of some illogical and fake God. _

_They DID deserve their fate. _

"_Captain, let's go!"_

_Picard turned and saw that the other crewmembers were already in the ship, and those that carried weapons were going into the ship themselves now. Signaling his coming, Picard threw his last two Plasma Grenades, and ran to the ladder, following Data up, and latching the shaft shut._

"_Status of the ship, Data," Picard ordered as he sat in the central chair of the circular bridge. _

"_Warp Drive is offline and seems to be missing," Data said. "It seems to have been replaced by their form of FTL travel, a 'Hyperdrive. It will take time for me to learn how to use it… but too long."_

"_Anything else?"_

"_The Hull plating has been enhanced with some sort of metallic ore called 'Naquadah' and 'Trinium.' Our Deflectors have been replaced with the Covenant's superior form of shielding. Our Phaser array is missing, and has been replaced two cruder forms of the Covenant's plasma beams, not as strong as their standard weapons system; it seems to be a experimental model. Captain, our Torpedo tubes have been modified as well. They now fire something called 'Drones.' The power core has been removed, and the Covenant has replaced it with four power sources known as a 'Zero Point Module.' Each module possess more power than any starship we've encountered as of yet, and seems to be a micro-singularity… but that is on quick scans, I do not have enough information to be accurate."_

"_They've beefed the old girl up," Riker murmured. _

"_Get us out of here," Picard ordered. _

"_Engaging Covenant Sublight driv-ooaff!"_

_The ship's engines flared, and the normally swift starship was thrown forward and became a speeding streak. The ship, thankfully, slowed down and glided at a faster pace, but not too fast that Picard had to cling to his seat for dear life. "Sir, two Covenant Destroyers are intercepting us. I need more time to understand the principles of this FTL Drive," Data warned. _

"_Power Weapons Number One," Picard ordered, feeling a pang of pain since Worf would have normally manned the station. "Let us see what these Covenant Plasma Weapons can do."_

_The Enterprise gracefully swung above the lumbering Covenant Destroyers, and two beams of plasma shot out where the Phaser's had been, and smashed on the shields, holding. Two more beams shot out as the Enterprise waved between the beams the Destroyers were sending her way. _

_Picard smirked victoriously as the Covenant Destroyer's shields flared, held, and then failed, a sixth beam cutting through them. Suddenly the Enterprise shook, and Picard gripped his chair as a Covenant beam made a glancing blow. "Shields have fallen to 78%, sir!" _

"_Data!"_

"_Where to, sir?"_

_The Enterprise ducked below the Destroyer and fired more beams, cutting the Destroyer in half. "Earth!"_

"_Powering Hyperdrives…. Now!"_

.

Then suddenly without any warning, his communicator beeped and in came Commander Riker's voice. The voice, like the hundred or so crewmembers of the _Enterprise _and other he rescued from the Covenant prisoner ship, was tired and weary, but also brimming with joy now that they had a ship that could stand up to Covenant weapons, and destroy Covenant ships! "Captain Picard, we need you down here in the bridge immediately. I really think that you need to hurry up and take a look at this, Riker out."

With no second thoughts, Picard darted out of the door and headed towards the bridge. He was hoping that this did not have anything to do with the Covenant. The Hyperdrives weren't fully integrated into the ship, and every time they had to drop to real space for it to cool down, he worried that the Covenant would find them. He grew more and more nervous as he entered the turbolift and headed upwards for the main bridge. Once he had arrived he had found everybody's eyes fixed on the screen in front of him. What he saw almost made him stumble back into the turbolift. He saw Earth, but not the Earth he knew. It wasn't burning, or blackened by plasma fire, but green and blue and healthy. He didn't see any orbital structure's except for a few primitive satellites and a space station.

"What the," Picard whispered.

"Sir, unknown contact!"

"Covenant?"

"No sir and it is approaching rapidly!"

Sure enough, a crude ship design, lacking the graceful swoops and curves and the saucer-shape appeared. It was small, less than 300 meters in length but… Picard felt his chest tighten at the readings Data was getting off the ship without using the scanners; possessed more power than his pre-modified starship. "This ship is unlike anything that we have encountered before," came Data's voice from the 1'st Officer's chair. "It's hull is composed entirely of Trinium and has a remarkable power source."

"How did they get here so fast and undetected" asked Picard?

Apparently everybody else was just as confused as he was as they sat in silence.

"Scan them," ordered Picard.

"Already tried," replied Commander Riker, "But their shielding system is so powerful that our scans are being completely reflected."

"Well there's something that we already know about them, that would mean that our scans aren't completely useless," said Picard with a tired smile that made Riker grimace and run his hand through his hair.

"Open a channel, let's attempt to make first contact," said Picard, who was very excited.

"Too late, they're already trying to open a channel."

Picard shook his head. "Accept; let's see what they have to say."

Silence.

And then….

~_**This is the Earth ship Odyssey. ~**_


	15. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE! **

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

_And those who would rescue their comrades despite the branding of a heretic, are not themselves heretics, but loyal friends who deserve the equality of chance to ascend to the Path._

**Final Revelations 42:19**

**The Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

**Stargate Command (SGC), Area-52**

**Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America **

.

.

"Star Trek."

Carter paused midway of slapping a clip into her P90 Rifle. She, including the other members of SG-1, looked at Teal'c strangely, who didn't seem to notice that he had said something out of place. "Incorrect however, for Darth Vader would most certainly defeat James Kirk and his 'cool-factor.'"

Mitchell glanced at Carter: _'Is he okay?_ 'He mouthed.

She shrugged.

Teal'c strapped a modified .357 Magnum to his waist, and slid another neatly into his thigh strap pocket. The .357's were modified to explosive shells encased in Trinium rounds, more 'bang for the buck.' Ever since those Horus Guards had come through the gate, the SGC had become a little more militarized, a little more serious. If the technology the Covenant used to bypass their Iris fell into even worse hands, then the SGC was going to be in trouble.

So small but important changes had come.

Gate Room Defense, for example, if the Iris was bypassed, was enhanced. They placed a Tok'ra shield (something the Tok'ra had left behind on the Alpha Site a few years back) to form a wall around the Gate Room. It had been modified to let people in, but not let people out. That was a major improvement, but it required a large source of power for it to work, which they couldn't depend on too much.

Followed by that, the two 50 cal's that had been the biggest guns in the Gate room were replaced with Staff Cannons. A Trinium shield was placed was placed at the sides of the controls so the operator would have some protection. They were much more powerful than the 50 calibers, and could cause an instant-death to anyone who came with harmful intents.

All SGC weapons were modified to use Trinium rounds, no matter what type of weapon, as well as two or three side arms. Zat Guns were now mandatory for SG Team member. The Kevlar padding they wore was, slowly, being replaced by experimental ceramic armor combined with captured/bartered pieces of Jaffa armor. That would save more lives, which was important since the situation in the galaxy seemed to get worse and worse.

How?

Some instances…

The Ori were converting more and more worlds at an accelerating pace.

The Covenant, where ever the Ori seemed to spread, was there to counter it and spread their own influence. Worse was that rumored sights of Covenant warships that were as large as or even _larger _than an Asgard ships suddenly became numerous, and almost daily.

Ba'al was slowly rising a new power with his clones. He was unifying what was left of his Underlings and other minor Goa'uld under his wing, recreating the Goa'uld Empire in a new image: His image.

Literally.

Even worse was that the Tok'ra contacts in the Covenant had all gone silent, and they had to relocate when some of Ba'al's newest Ha'tak's attacked their base, forcing them to relocate and lose contact with the SGC.

Then there was the Jaffa.

The Jaffa was becoming more independent, which was good, but was leading them to a militarized state. They were putting more and more power into the hands of one Jaffa who was a traditionalist, and as such, was not so friendly with Earth at all. They even forced the SGC off a valuable Naquadah mine that they had leased from the Free Jaffa Nation!

And then there was the loss of Bra'tac who had gone to liberate two conquered worlds from (If the rumors were true,) the Covenant. He had not been heard from since though the survivors reported that the Covenant System Lord (Hierarch) had personally captured him.

Meaning he COULD be alive.

…

…

Even if it was unlikely.

And all of these upgrades were just for the growing number of skirmishes between Ba'al's Jaffa and loyal Ori-followers. In space, the IOA had actually allocated more funding for the increasing of DSC-304 production. They had given all members of the Gate Alliance Treaty the plans for the BC-303 and F-302's (abet modified since Naquadria was no longer a viable source of power since Langaria fell to the Ori weeks ago.) Rumors had it that the French were already building a number of squadrons of 302's and that the British were struggling to find a place to build their own starship in secret from prying eyes.

The Russian and Chinese had access to not just the 303 and 302, but also to the DSC-304-series itself. It was no secret (at least to the members of the Gate Alliance) that the Chinese had already begun to build their own Deep Space Carrier. With what progress they were making, as well as building their own sea-based Carriers (to ward off any suspicions,) they would be finished between 2008-2009, a long way off. But that was a best case scenario. Worst case scenario they would be finished as early as the end of the next year, 2007, maybe even a bit earlier.

As for the Russians….

Well….

The Russians…..

Were….

For lack of a better word, not even trying… which summarized what the Russians were doing. They had plans for the BC-304 and the F-302's for a couple years already, but they weren't even building ships.

But what he Russians _did _have were several Goa'uld versions of the Puddle Jumpers, their Needle Gliders. Those were valuable because they were the only crafts that could travel through a Stargate without having to be disassembled. But that advantage was negated thanks to the fact that they needed Naquadah, and neither the US or Russia or any other country had Naquadah, or at least any sufficient amount to power a Needle Glider. Those mines the SGC had were recent, and most were leased from the Jaffa Nation and (and being taken back.)

Which….

Wasn't good… not good AT all.

And again, which brought them back to SG-1.

The Jaffa slid two clips for his P90 into his belt pockets. He paused and looked up, as If thinking.

"I believe so O'Neill."

"Daniel, is the big guy okay?" Vala whispered.

"I… think so," Daniel said slowly. "I really don't think so, but Teal'c did just have his old Master be captured by other Jaffa belonging to the Covenant. Maybe this is his way of taking the pain off."

"Maybe," Vala said slowly. "Oh, and whose Darth Vader and Kirk, and why would they be fighting?"

Daniel didn't say anything. How was he going to explain Star Trek AND Star Wars to Vala, and then try to explain why people argued who would win in a fight, what's better and other useless things? They were good shows, both of them, with some good movies, but really, did it matter? He looked at Teal'c who said, "The _Executor _can destroy the _Enterprise _easily."

He paused.

"Indeed, O'Neill."

"Teal'c," Daniel said slowly, "Jack isn't here."

The tall and intimidating black Jaffa looked at Daniel and realized that everyone was looking at him. His deep voice rang in the armory: "What is wrong? Have I done something I was not supposed to do?"

"You do realize you were talking to yourself, right?"

"I was not."

Carter glanced at Vala and then Daniel who shrugged. "Teal'c, you were. You were talking to Jack, and Jack isn't here."

"Indeed," Teal'c responded.

"But you were-"

"I was speaking to O'Neill through this head device," Teal'c said, pulling a small earphone from his ear. His voice suddenly became grave and disappointed: "He requested my opinion on a war going on between the forces of Star Trek and Star Wars, which appears to have gone on for some time your world. I fear General O'Neill has gone to these foolish 'Trekkies,' for he believes this _Enterprise _can overcome the forces of the _Executor._"

SG-1 looked at each other and shrugged. "Alright Teal'c," Mitchell said, taking a spare Zat from the armory locker. "Whatever you say," and he added, "Oh, and tell General O'Neill that I put my bet on Star Wars. Those Clone Troopers got nothing over them" he raised his P90, "bang, bang, bang, bang!"

"Really Mitchell," Carter said.

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's not get into this argument until _after _we rescue Bra'tac, alright?" Daniel quickly interrupted, before Carter said anything.

"You are right Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said gravely as he walked out of the armory and to the Gate Room. Vala followed him out, a slight skip to her step. Daniel followed her and so did Mitchell and Carter.

There, they met SG-5 and SG-8. "Colonel, Colonel," Mitchell said, nodding to the two other SG Team leaders in respect.

"Colonel," they said at the same time.

General Landry met them, and they saluted each other and returned the salutes. "The Jaffa are going to meet you at the Chulak Gate," The General said. "Despite how strong the Traditionalists grip is one the Jaffa Nation, Bra'tac made a lot of friends and there are number of Jaffa who wants him back. From there, you'll gate to his last known area, understood?"

"Yes sir," Cameron said.

The General nodded. "Good luck and God speed," he said as the Stargate's unstable vortex roared out of the circular ring and settled back. SG-1, SG-5, and SG-8 walked up the ramp and into the wormhole horizon, one second in the Gate Rom back on Earth, and the next…

"Kree, Jaffa!"

Into the hornet's nest of a half-hundred armed heads of Jaffa Staff Weapons. With quick reflexes, they raised their P90's. "Jaffa, lower your weapon. The People of the Tau'ri have come to aid us."

"Teal'c?" Jaffa shouted.

"Is is I," The SGC Jaffa said back, his voice rumbling.

All at once the staff's were lowered and the SG Team members were allowed down just as the wormhole connection was lost. A tall Jaffa, Hispanic in appearance bearing the mark of Ares, walked forward. "Teal'c, you are a legend! That you have come has assured that Master Bra'tac will be returned to us. And with the help of the Tau'ri it is even more certain!"

In one single roar, the entire Jaffa group agreed. "Come, we are preparing to leave now, all of those who desired to come have come. There are sixty four of us here, Teal'c, surely a large number."

"That's pretty big," Mitchell said.

"Not so," the Jaffa said, and seeing Teal'c turned his head towards him, continued on, "we have diverted a Ha'tak from the oversight of the world Tartarus to aid us in the rescue of Bra'tac. One hundred warriors are on the ship as are twelve Al'kesh and thirty seven Death Gliders."

"A most impressive force," a muscular Jaffa said proudly wearing the rare mark of Ra on his forehead. "Both you and Bra'tac are living legends amongst us Jaffa. Those of us who desire to advance forward would gladly lay down our lives in order for you to live, for the future, not the past, is what will keep the Jaffa Nation free from oppression and stagnation."

"Indeed," Teal'c said, smiling proudly.

"The Ha'tak will arrive in a matter of minutes," Ares' Jaffa said, "we will be there in seconds, and we have time to form ranks and ensure all of our weapons are ready and functional."

"How was, ah, Bra'tac captured," Vala asked.

The Jaffa became sour. "He and a handful of other Jaffa went to liberate a new colony of Jaffa who had been subdued by Horus Guard's. The System _your Master Jaffa, Bra'tac of Chulak, is now in my custody. If you desire to have the Jaffa Master back,_" he said proudly, "_Then you must accept Salvation of the Covenant_

Lord called himself a strange name: The Hierarch. He allowed surviving Jaffa to flee with their lives to tell us, but kept Bra'tac."

SG-1 shared looks.

The Covenant's leader, the Hierarch, was rarely seen. And when he was seen, it was usually to commemorate something important, or to bless the occasional village/town/city and to oversee the modernization of that planet. "How many Jaffa did Bra'tac meet? Do you know how many, I mean, were there at least twenty, maybe thirty?"

"An equal number, possibly a few less," the Jaffa said.

"Should Master Bra'tac not have won the battle then," Teal'c said. His previous Master was a great fighter, worthy of four or more Jaffa. With the help of other Jaffa, he should have won. "Was he ambushed," Teal'c prodded, "did the occupiers fight through cowardly means than a real warrior' fight?"

"It was Bra'tac who sought advantage," The Jaffa said, "and received it, killing one Horus Guard. But the others… the others possessed a form of energy shield that blocked all of our staff bolts. We are more prepared though, we now bring throwing daggers and knifes too."

"Goa'uld personal shields cannot block slow moving projectiles," Teal'c said. "This is smart."

"Indeed," Mitchell said joking.

"Come, we must go," another Jaffa shouted as the Stargate roared to life, and a column of battle ready Jaffa ran through. "Column Two," the Jaffa shouted, "move forward, and rescue Bra'tac!"

"Let's go," Mitchell said as they followed the Second Column. They expected to find the Jaffa scouring the place, forming a good defensive position for a fall back point, and then go forward like mad men. But,,, what they did NOT expect was to find was Mitchell catching a dying Jaffa, and all of the Jaffa forming a oblique oval around the Stargate, their formation bulging around the Stargate;

"Shit, Cover Fire!" Mitchell shouted as he flicked the safety off his P90, and fired a trio of rounds at a Jaffa who had poked his head over a rock, taking it straight in the face, and falling back, as if his bones had suddenly turned to water. He peered through the scope and took another Jaffa.

Blue Zat's blasts and golden staff bolts crisscrossed peered through the scope and took another Jaffa.

Mitchell slapped another clip into his P90, letting the gun roar out bullets and tear the arm of a Jaffa, and cut a swath of Trinium-tipped bullets across his body, tearing the Jaffa in half, shattering his jawbones, and splattering gore and brain and muscle flesh on another Jaffa, who was thrown backwards by numerous Staff bolts. The Zat gun in her hand made its final discharge, narrowly avoiding Teal'c and hitting a Free Jaffa behind him.

He heard Daniel curse-which surprised him. "Son of a bitch!"

Mitchell agreed.

"Christ, did they know we were coming?"

"Do you suggest a spy Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c roared over the roar of the fire fight, sliding a fresh clip in.

"Well, look around you!"

Neither side had ample cover, which only made the casualties all the more severe, more than should have been necessary. "Fire in the hole!" Carter shouted as she threw a grenade at a group of enemy Jaffa, and turned around, firing at another Jaffa as the grenade exploded, through flesh and dirt, gravel and grass, into the sky. "Come on, who wants' some of this!"

The assault, the attack and the counter-attack continued on for some time until, at last, the final Jaffa in the service of the Hierarch (from the Sun Cross symbol in the center of their breastplate,) was killed. But that was just the first wave, and no sooner did the Jaffa mourn for their dead and begin to expand, did more soldiers with the Sun Cross on shoulder patches or the center of their Jaffa Armor, come here over a hill and fire on them.

"On come on!" SG-8's Team Leader shouted as he pulled the pin back on his P90 and fired off more rounds. "I'm done to my last two clips, for the P90!"

"Good to know!"

This assault was smaller in number than the last, maybe twenty or thirty, and they weren't that good fighters…. More like rookies, Mitchell realized. But why would the guy send rookies?

"It is illogical for you to win in the long run!" One of the Covenant's soldiers shouted as a number of staff bolts smashed into his chest, blowing through it. The man, and to Carter's surprise, with _pointed _ears, fell back and gave a strange symbol with his hands, like a peace sign.

"It is impossible for you to succeed," another said in an eerily calm voice as he primed a glowing light-blue grenade, and pulled his arm back, as it to throw it. Suddenly he stopped and his face turned into one of internal struggle, as it he was fighting to not throw the grenade. "I cannot do this, I am not a slave…" he muttered, kneeling as he grabbed his head in pain. He waited too long, finally, and, to Mitchell and Daniel's shock and nausea, the grenade hissed and a blue puff of smoke and fire and plasma erupted, enveloping the pointy-eared man, and leaving nothing but scorched grass where he had stood.

Eventually the second wave crumbled, wiped out in short order with only a handful of casualties. "We have won!" A Jaffa shouted, waving his spear in the air. He was joined by the rest of the Jaffa. "Now we must venture forward, into the abyss to rescue our Master Bra'tac!"

With a roar of approval ("they seem to like doing that don't they," Colonel Reynolds muttered to Mitchell,) the Jaffa surged forward, towards a large spiral in the distance, rushing, their spears armed, Zat's in their hands. Their armor glistened in the overhead twin red suns, a dull glint. The distant spiral grew larger, and that spiral gave way to tall and elegant skyscrapers, gigantic temples and gothic cathedrals, homes and towers and paved roads.

"Hello New York City," Mitchell muttered.

"Really? I was thinking San Francisco," Carter muttered in awe. The city seemed to grow larger and larger with each passing second, a sprawling urban city that seemed to have no limits, clean and impossible. It _should _be impossible, all of this, but it wasn't, because it was there, in front of them. It was awe-inspiring, and she felt insignificant just looking at it.

Suddenly beams of blue-white light erupted all around them, Asgard Beaming Technology, and a dozen or sos Horus Guard's were beamed in all around them, long pike-like weapons leveled at them. "How dare you trespass on the joining of this world to the Covenant? Have you no honor?"

The Jaffa were clearly insulted, Mitchell had a feeling that it was meant to. Teal'c growled in anger:

"More than you do!"

The Guard growled at the Jaffa, and energy gather below the bayonet-like heard of the pike. Before they could fie, however, Death Gliders flew downwards from space, their wing's tip staff weapons bombarding the Horus Guard's. The Jaffa roared in approval at the attack, and fired their staffs. To their surprise however, green blotches appeared where the blasts hit them, and they didn't even flinch. Teal'c growled, took his knife from its sheath, and threw it.

The knife flew straight and true, hitting a Horus Guard straight in the chest. But the knife simply bounced off, shattering as soon as it made contact. A green energy field appeared briefly and faded just as quickly.

"Not Goa'uld design," Vala muttered as he fired her Zat again and again at the same Guard. The Guard was just standing there, tilting its head at her as numerous staff bolts smashed into him, the green field appearing and vanishing. "Uh," she shouted, "Why won't they fall down and die! Shouldn't they be dead by now, they should be dead now, right?"

"We'll some are dying, just not them," Mitchell said as Reynolds kneeled over a team member, and shaking his head as he searched for a pulse. He didn't find one, and sighed in regret as he rejoined the battle.

The Jaffa, meanwhile, were dying by the droves. The opposing Jaffa's Pikes fired Asgard energy weapon-like beams, blue bolts, which tore through their ranks. A Death Glider made a second round, only to be hit by four dead accurate bolts, and crash into another Glider.

A Al'kesh rode down, it's rear in flames as teardrop-shaped ship chased after it, firing bolts of plasma, bypassing the shields as if the weren't even there.

"We must retreat!"

"We cannot!" Another said.

Teal'c was about to say something when a beam of light enveloped him, and the other members of SG-1, SG-5, and SG-8, as well as a few Jaffa, and beamed them away into the spiral building, "Hold!" He shouted, his voice ringing in the halls, looking around with a grave look on his face. He lowered his recovered Staff Weapon, frowning with dissatisfaction. "Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, where are we now, where are my brothers?"

"Some are here… as for question one, no idea," Mitchell said slowly, looking around the large halls, a waste of space in their opinion, and the ornate writing on the walls, which attracted Daniel's attention.

"Interesting…"

"What, what's interesting Daniel," Vala said, walking up behind him as he walked towards the writings. He trailed his fingers on the writings, his eyes crisscrossing the words, reading line after line within seconds. His eyes widened as he read the words again and again.

"These Vala," Daniel said, half-listening to himself, "these, ah, etchings, writings, words, sent-sentences, Christ, these are words! Let's see what we have here..." he sounded surprised, "wow… these are a bunch of languages, Sumerian, Latin, Celtic, Goa'uld… Asgard… Ancient/Latin… almost every language I know of, and a lot more than I haven't even heard of or-or seen! This is amazing," he laughed, "a wall of every known language and dialect possible!"

Mitchell up to him, and pointed to the writings as the few Jaffa with them formed a small circular perimeter in the foreboding hall. Light was scarce, and the hall seemed to stretch for miles, although the farther they looked, the closer it seemed to be, thought it was an illusion. "What do they say?"

"Actually, they are greetings," he said, surprised, "Welcoming… SG-1, SG-5, SG-8 and the Jaffa…. To the Tower of Primo Solis…" He frowned then.

"Creepy," Mitchell said. "Hang on; we aren't on Primo Solis, right? That's a different planet."

"Look behind."

"Huh?"

"It says… look behind…"

"**Indeed,**" a deep voice declared.

The group paled and turned around.

The Hierarch and two Horus Guards stood behind them.

"**Welcome.**"


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Europasie: Thanks for reviewing! It's great that you like the story. Covenant has existed only for several centuries, and yet its level of technology and power is equal to that of the GE. Unfortunately, I have certain plans for some series not of Sci Fi. **

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

"_Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children._

**Genesis 32:11**

**The Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

"Welcome."

The small group stared at him and the pair of Jaffa Horus Guard's behind him. He was amused by their faces which were in awe and shock, which were emotions that the moment demanded. "Welcome," he declared, swishing his cloak behind him, revealing the armor below the cloak, "To the Tower of Primo Solis, the-"

"Jaffa, Kree!"

He looked in annoyance at one of the Jaffa whom he had beamed with the three SG-Teams, and narrowed his eyes as he raised two Zat'nik'tel's and fired off a steady stream of electrical blue bolts.

As if that were a signal, the other Jaffa raised their Staff Weapons and Zat Guns, and fired off bolts and electrical charges. '_As if that would do them well,_' The Hierarch thought.

"Wait, Kree!" Teal'c bellowed to no avail.

Acting on sheer instinct and the overwhelming duty to defend their Hierarch, their charge and Holy physical leader, his two Guards's leaped before him and their personal shields absorbed the energy blasts. Green splotches and cracks appeared and faded on them, as they too leveled their weapons. Energy gathered bellow the pike as the Jaffa continued to fire.

The Hierarch was greatly displeased. Such dishonorable movements, sneak attacks and attempts on a leader's life-if this was honor to the Jaffa, then the Jaffa were nothing more than deluded and faithless heretical barbarians. Which, and he had plenty of reasons, gave him another reason to destroy the Free Jaffa Nation when the proper time came.

"Do not fire upon your brothers," Teal'c shouted again, speaking to his Guards' who ignored him. "Can you not see that this man is impersonating a False God in order to control you as the Goa'uld did? Can you not see beyond his lies and veils, my Jaffa brethren?

"Heretic!" A Guard growled angrily.

The tamed Jaffa of the Tau'ri narrowed his eyes and the Hierarch saw his finger reach for the priming/firing trigger of his Staff Weapon. But training stopped him, and he did nothing. But the other SG Teams raised their P90's, Zat Gun's, and Pistols, not firing, but ready if necessary.

He smiled approvingly. These were true warriors. What else would he expect from the Tau'ri of Earth?

The Second Son then frowned, feeling that this had gone long enough as bolts erupted from the pikes, four Jaffa crashing into the wall, dead. The five other Jaffa gave out cries of fury and loss. "Halt you defense," he ordered, his voice echoing, "I need none, for the Lord defends me."

Nothing.

"My Guard's, as the Prophet Moses split the Red Sea in order to let the Chosen Men pass and escape Slavery, so must you move. I will speak, and I shall not be harmed by them."

With great reluctance, he could tell, the Guard's raised their Energy Pikes, and took a step to the side; their personal shields flaring as bolts and charges crackled and whined on their shields. The Hierarch's own personal shield flared and quaked as the bolts were transferred to him.

"Heed my words," The Hierarch declared, "Lower your arms, and you shall live to exist in this mortal realm. Fail to lower thy arms, and you shall know pain and suffering as never before."

Glancing at each other, every member, one by one, and with great reluctance, lowered their weapons. He expected that-he did not want to kill any Tau'ri… well, not yet, anyway. The Jaffa lowered their arms as well, slowly, deactivating their Staff Weapons and locking their Zat Guns. Clearly, they were the sensible ones, the few in the Jaffa Nation.

However…

However one did not.

"Coward's," the slim white Jaffa shouted angrily, bearing the ancient mark of the old System Lord Ra, "Fight to the death! Do not listen to the words of this Jaffa Oppressor, fight on!"

No one listened or followed.

The Hierarch raised his hand slowly, on purpose, for the dramatic effect. His gloved hand glowed as the Kara Kesh activated, and his eyes flared. "You fail to heed my words, Jaffa of Ra."

"I serve not Ra!" He shouted.

Not wanting to see a fellow Jaffa die as the four others hand, Teal'c pushed Vala and Daniel to the side, and walked up to the Jaffa who had never faltered in firing his Staff Cannon.

"JAFFA!" Teal'c roared angrily, "LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!"

"Shol'va!"

The Hierarch smirked. "So the Fury of the Lord, of the All Father courses through his Second Son, and now punishes the heretical and blasphemers, the doubters and the corrupted. The unbelievers and the deluded, for that is what you are; I cast death as your sentence, Jaffa of Ra!"

Before Teal'c could do anything, a pulsing beam of white light erupted from his palm and struck the Jaffa's armored chest, and was cut. The Hierarch lowered his hand, the Jaffa's armor not burnt or scorched. The Jaffa's steady barrage paused as he gloated to the Hierarch. "You powers, Goa'uld scum, are not all powerful-you are a fool. You are the one who is delu-"

He paused and opened his mouth, trying to continue. "You are th-e-e-th-the on-e-e w-w-who i-i-i-s-s-" he coughed, clasping his throught as he turned blue, his eyes widening in unimaginable pain and suffering. "A-Ack-Ach!" He dropped his staff weapon. He uttered a single scream as he raised his hands, only for a beam of light flash over them, and leave two bloody stumps in their place, the white bone sticking out of his arms.

"What the hell-"

"Oh that's sick," Vala whispered, horrified.

"The judgment goes on," The Hierarch said calmly. He had done this many times-Final Judgment.

The Jaffa collapsed to his knees and clutched his stomach, feeling a sudden burst of pain as his stomach was stretched to the limit. Although he didn't know why, the reason for it was that his hands had been beamed into his stomach, and his body was resisting digesting itself. Soon, the Jaffa let out a silent scream as the flesh on his arms were slowly peeled away, revealing the muscle beneath it. He panted in panic as strips of flesh dropped to the floor, and used the bone of his arm to poke at his muscles, only to rip off a chuck of his muscle, blood squirting and dripping out. He began to wheeze, unable to scream as his foot, including the armored boots, was beamed right next to his appendix, cutting the useless organ in half. The Jaffa couldn't even scream as flesh filled his lungs, and fell on his back, gasping as he writhed in pain. "The eternal suffering has simply begun," the Hierarch said quietly as the Jaffa's eyes exploded in their sockets, and blood flowed from the gaping holes. "Damnation awaits you, you who heeded not my warning."

"You torture Jaffa!"

The Hierarch glanced at Teal'c and nodded. "Did I not warn him, Teal'c of Chulak, did I not? He failed to listened, he continued to assault despite my heeding, and as such the law demands punishment."

…

…

"God would not want this!"

The Hierarch turned sharply towards Daniel. "You would dare think that you know of what my Father desires than I, his Second Son?" He raised his hand at the archeologist, "perhaps it is you who deserves punishment as well. Yet the Covenant, and I, are lenient."

He paused and glanced at the Jaffa who had vomited, spitting out flesh and bile… and his tongue. He whimpered in pain and disgust as he tried to pick up his tongue with his wrist bone, only for his right arm to fall off, spraying blood. He convulsed, but he didn't die.

The curse did not let him.

"Tell me why the Father would not desire this fate?"

Daniel vomited himself (and he wasn't the only one,) at the sight of the torture the Jaffa was enduring. Not even the remaining Jaffa could withstand the urge to vomit, for they knew not any torture that even the Goa'uld had committed that could compare to this.

"Ugh, ah, ahem," Daniel wiped his mouth, a sick look on his face. "Right, ah, God… God is a good god. He wants to embrace everyone and send them to heaven. That was why Jesus chose sinners for his Twelve Apostles, to redeem them. If he," he couldn't even look at the Jaffa as a jagged piece of bone (his femur,) burst through his chest, having been beamed in. "Sinned by not heeding your warning, then it is your duty to take him under your wing and teach him the errors of his ways and show him the right way."

"Interesting…"

His eyes flared then. "But the Final Revelation says that the damned, those who led sinful lives, are to forever liver in Tartarus-Hell, the deepest realm of Hell of all areas, and join the Grecian God Hades in the fury of eternal pain and suffering, whilst the just live in Heaven."

Daniel frowned.

So did Mitchell.

"But that's not what Jesus did," Mitchell argued, "he-"

The Hierarch waved his hand, and his Guard's leveled their pikes, the deadly weapons ready, but not armed. "Listen closely, and know. I am not my brother Jesus, I am not him nor am I to follow his policies. He took the burden of all sins," his voice cracked a bit, "and gave his life so you may be forgiven. That is not what I preach-live and serves the Covenant and God as you see fit, any damnation that occurs in doing so affects your existence and choice."

Lowering his hand, however, he nodded.

…

…

…

.

"He, who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches," the Hierarch said finally, "He who overcomes will not be hurt by the Second Death." He paused and added, "Rev-"

"Revelation 2:11-12," Mitchell interrupted, nodding.

"You have read the Sacred Texts?"

He shrugged. "I was read the Bible as a kid."

Surprised, he nodded at Mitchell as the Jaffa gasped it's last, but did not die. And he would not die until his bones had turned to dust, a death that would take years, perhaps longer than a decade.

The first time he had done this, on a Jaffa who had been caught trying to set up a illegal and heretical sex industry in the deepest bowls of a High Charity City-Ship, was still dying.

And that was three years ago.

"Jaffa, raise arms," the Hierarch ordered, "Members of Stargate Command, Jaffa, come. I have not transported you across the distance of Interstellar Space because I desired to kill you. I have come to speak to you on matters that affect this galaxy and others."

He paused and looked at the cold look on Teal'c face, which sent a shiver down his spine. "Where is Master Bra'tac?" He demanded, "What have you done with him, Hierarch?"

Bra'tac?

He shook his head, remembering.

"The Jaffa Councilor is fine, he will join us-"whether he wants to or not-"soon enough. Now, come."

With that, the Hierarch swerved and walked down the hall, his two Guards's in tow, their armored boots clanking on the ground. "He's our only key outta here," Mitchell muttered, "I think the best of action right now, is to follow him, listen to what he has to say, say some yes and no's, nod our head's a bit, and then we'll be on our way back to Earth."

With some reluctance and hesitation, the small group ran after the three, and walked short pace behind them. The Hierarch ignored them for a few moments, not breaking his pace, before he said: "You wish to question me on my ability to beam you across Interstellar distances, correct, Samantha Carter?" He walked a few paces slower, and allowed his Guard's to walk two steps ahead of him. "You have nothing to fear here, so ask."

Carter looked shocked, wondering if he read her mind. Then she laughed mentally-reading minds. That was magic, and all magic was advanced technology, which meant he had some sort of device that allowed him to do something like that. Or he was a sort of ascended being.

Which….

Considering Anubis…

Wasn't a stretch.

"How did you-"

"The final advancements of the Forerunners," he said gravely, "an ancient race that spanned an entire galaxy. They are a long dead race, having committed mass suicide in order to stave off an enemy that would not stop, that was relentless, and whose hunger knew no bounds."

He paused and went on. "A relatively simple devise, I do not imagine myself capable of fully understanding how it works, nor am I capable of grasping the simplicity, and ye the complexity of the device." He paused and added, "You may see it soon enough, but for now all I can say is that the device uses a startlingly small amount of power to transport matter across Interstellar space. Solar Flares, black holes and such cannot interfere with the beam."

Carter's eyes lit up.

"Whoa there Carter," Mitchell murmured. "Later, okay?"

"Who are the Forerunners?"

"Indeed."

The Hierarch turned a corner.

"The Forerunners…. Was a mid-aged race that appeared long after the Ancients became sentient? But their curiosity knew no bounds, and they approached the levels of the Ancients in quick succession in certain areas. In a short period, they became the unofficial 'Gods' of hundreds of species in their galaxy, although they did not think themselves as the Goa'uld did. By the time of their species height, they had they had the ability to transverse galaxies, but they had so much ample resources that they did not feel the need to transverse galaxies. But soon, they came to face with an enemy they could not defeat."

He paused and sighed.

His mood seemed to affect everyone, although the Hierarch put in on for show. He had little care for the Forerunners. Their fate was shared in the dozens of Halo Dimensions he found, and in the two he found that the Forerunners still existed, either they were being consumed by the Flood or barbaric animals. The Forerunners future was the same.

"Who was their enemy called," Teal'c questioned.

His voice became cold: "The Flood."

"Flood," Vala whispered. "Sound's scary."

He nodded.

"Indeed they were. An extra-galactic species, they consumed sentient life, and could hibernate for millennia's, waiting for their next feast. They consumed twenty entire galaxies when they encountered the Forerunners. A single ship, crash landing on a edge world of the galaxy. Large enough to summon the attention of the Forerunners to send a scientist team to investigate. A foolish move-the Flood infected the team, took control of the ship with their new hosts, and went to the nearest world. And so did the agonizing 100,000 years war begin.

"In less than a half month, the 4 billion inhabitants of that world were infected and turned into new host, and the ships there were used to spread the plague across the galaxy. Forerunner technology, which had been focused on improving the health and comforts, turned to defensive and offensive weaponry.

"Planet-destroying weapons, star-destroying weapons, nano-technology, biological and mechanical soldiers, energy and plasma beams, drones and missiles and all sorts of devices were created and used. But the Flood could not be stopped; they would hunger for all eternity."

"What happened to them?"

He glanced at Vala who had a concerned look on her face. "What else? In the end, they devised the Array, Seven Rings that would wipe the galaxy clean of sentient life, starving the Flood. They brought as many survivors of all species that did or possessed the capability for sentience into safe guard worlds beyond the rim. They survived, but the Forerunner did not.

"In a final battle against the entire tide of infected, outnumbered and outgunned, they lasted long enough for the Array to be fired. They sacrificed themselves for the others to survive, and the Flood starved them to death. The surviving species were scattered across the galaxy, so a new era could begin. Many Interstellar powers now occupy that galaxy," he said with some respect.

"Back to the question…"

The Hierarch smiled behind his mask: "I scourged the galaxy, bringing it into the Covenant-" which wasn't technically a lie, the Milky Way Halo-Dimension was partially in the Covenant, "- and found as well as activated many technologies, and adapted them to serve the Glory of God."

.

Several minutes later, the group paused in front of a simple door, three times the height of the Hierarch. He pushed the door open himself, which shocked the Jaffa since they expected his Guard's to open it for their 'God,' and were awed by the sight that they saw.

A long and narrow path that seemed to however in a shadowy pit that had no visible end, reached from them to the other side. Two rows of Horus Guard's stood at each side, opposite of reach other, one hundred in total, fifty on each side. They looked at each, unmoving, parallel. "Kree, Jaffa!" One of the two Guard with them barked, "Turn and respect the glorious Hierarch in his divine grace, and the guests of those whom he has taken interest!"

Moving as one, the guard's swerved, and beat the ground with the butt of their pikes, a loud and resounding 'BANG' echoing. "Heed and Hail your words, Holy Hierarch," they chanted.

"Heed and Hail," he replied back, leading the group down the path as the Guard's slammed the ends of their pikes and raised them into the sky, crossing each other in an X, like a roof.

As they reached the end of the platform, the doors on the opposite end creaked open and they saw a long rectangular table in the middle of the room. The room was lit by a single ball of light hovering high above them. The room itself was extremely ornate, but also simple. It was indescribable, majestic and fit for a God-Emperor, but also simple enough to be considered Spartan.

Somehow…

The Hierarch had done both.

"Not a miracle Vala Mal Doran," The Hierarch whispered to her, "And do not attempt to take anything. These were all gifts, from the various denizens of the Covenant, all hand-made. These I value closely, for there is no greater gift than receiving, despite the fact that I need nothing but their faith. In return, even if I were to receive no gifts, I would heal the sick and bring safety and security to my people. Take this to your heart, Vala."

She shuddered.

He looked around as his Guard's slammed the door behind them. "Where is Master Bra'tac," Teal'c questioned, his eyes darting from the few shadows large enough to hide a man in the room. "You declared that he would join us if we followed you, yet he is not here."

"Indeed," he toyed.

"Do not-"

"Calm yourself, Teal'c." Bra'tac wheezed.

Appearing in a beam of light, the Master Jaffa appeared before them, next to the Hierarch. It comforts me you have come to rescue me from here, and I thank you deeply." He glared at the Hierarch, "I have, to my regret, been unable to free our brothers and sisters from his influence."

"Is their choice."

The Master Jaffa grunted and walked towards the group. "You shall not leave yet, we still have to speak."

Mitchell took a deep breath. "Alright. Shoot."


	17. Chapter 17

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**VexMaster: Thanks. Thank you for all your help! **

**Aznblackhowling: Thank you loyal reviewer!**

**Sorry: Sorry that you don't like it. You can't please everyone, I guess. **

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

_Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen._

**Ephesians 4:29 **

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

The Hierarch took his seat on the front seat of the table, the Jaffa and Tau'ri taking opposite sides before him. All their eyes were focused on him, watching his every move, analyzing what his actions meant. It was unsettling, but the Hierarch felt no fear from them. But what the Hierarch projected, Alexander Reed felt nervous under the glares.

He took a deep breath. "Jaffa, Tau'ri, I come to you now because soon, a great war will erupt."

"War? Between the Free Beings of this Galaxy and your corruptive Covenant?" Bra'tac hissed.

The Hierarch narrowed his eyes but did nothing. He needed Bra'tac, at least for the moment, until 2009. After that, he would stop toying with this dimension, and begin another Crusade.

One of his Jaffa (who was dead,) had questioned why they would wait so long, and the answer was simple although no one else could know. SG-1 and SG-A ended in 2009. SG-U was never broadcasted since… since his world had been burned to a shadow of its former self.

He had searched in the five galaxies he already controlled, and he had found nothing on SG-U. So he had to destroy Icarus Base and the _Destiny_ himself, or the conquest of this galaxy would always be unfinished. He had no idea what sort of advanced technology there was beyond this galaxy. He had to consolidate his hold on his first galaxies before he expanded.

Even worse, if the Tau'ri managed to escape, in the far future, they could return in the far future with weapons that could possibly (even if the odds were slim, and the chances of them surviving even slimmer,) match his own. It was something he could not allow, and so he had to destroy them…

…

And his thoughts then led him to his future plains….

He smiled deviously.

After the Milky Way-SG Galaxy fell, and then the Pegasus-SG Galaxy would fall, with the elimination of the Wraith and the Asurans, including the Lost Tribe. Those plagues would not be allowed to survive. Once he finished off all his enemies in this dimension, and the people of the two galaxies bowed before his divine power and the power of God, he would expand. Galaxy after galaxy would fall, Andromeda and Ida, the Kallium Galaxy, and so on.

This was, in fact, the plan for every dimension he conquered. Initially, he had believed that he had to conquer only the main galaxies of each dimension. That would mean he would have a mere 15 galaxies, minimum, at his disposal. Yet for his dreams of the infinite-year Covenant, the Covenant had to be larger. And he realized, he could expand to the _other _galaxies in each dimension.

And he thought even further after that. Why simply conquer galaxies in dimension after dimension, why not conquer dimensions that were copies of the ones he already conquered?

Multiple Battlestar Galactica dimensions, multiple Stargate and Halo, more, with thousands of galaxies in them. There would be of course, complexities, multiple copies, histories that went wrong. But it would expand his Covenant; make it occupy millions of galaxies.

His power, his reach, would be unstoppable. He would be a Divine Son.

He would be POWER.

For the moment though, he was not.

Right now, he already had another Crusade planned; one that he was certain would be more of a challenge to conquer than the Star Trek Milky Way had been: The Star Wars Dimension.

He remembered the famous movies he used to watch: The Original and the Prequel. It was the most famous of all galaxies, of all fictional universes. It was sure to be a challenge to him, though not a great one. He had already sent a few Prior's to the dimension he had selected. There, the Clone Wars were about to start in a mere two years time.

He smirked.

Already he had converted one hundred fifty seven worlds in the Unknown Regions, and had just encountered the Chiss Ascendency. It was a small number, but the faithful and the few ships they held would not be alone for long. Soon, very soon, he would join them and _personally _command the glorious conversion and cleansing of the Star Wars Dimension.

Of course, the person that was Alexander Reed, the still-dominant persona in the Hierarch, had another reason. Though he did not know it as of yet, his mind was slowly being wasted away, and turning into a new persona, into a new image. He, personally, wanted to meet the Jedi, meet the Sith: _see _the Clone Wars ravage and destroy the galaxy!

He thought back….

He remembered.

…

…

…

…

…

…

STOP!

He pulled himself as he began to drift into his memories, memories of a past that was still too painful. He focused himself to think on the coming Crusade, and on what Bra'tac had said.

…

…

What had Bra'tac said again?

Ah yes….

"War," he replied, "between the Covenant and your 'Nation' would prove to be short, even if it was my desire to," _which it was_. "No, the war I speak of is between False Gods and the One Lord."

"The Ori and the Covenant," Jackson said suddenly.

He nodded.

"Indeed."

A beam of light erupted from the glowing ball hanging above them, the one illuminating the room, and they saw images play before them. "You know what I show is not magic or illusion, simply technology. My people know this, but they desire, and I do not prevent them, from considering certain technologies divine powers. I wish for you to know that."

Teal'c grunted – his usual reply.

Mitchell and Carter looked interested, Bra'tac as well, more than anyone else, as a large fully-formed Supergate hung in space, faced by a fleet of Jaffa Ha'tak's, two Earth DSC-304's, and a Asgard ship.

The image blurred, and the Supergate was activated, and four oblique oval-shaped ships glided out of the event horizon, pristine white with strange marks on the prow of their ship.

"Whose ships are those?"

He glanced at Vala.

"The Ori."

The image blurred, and they reeled back as a golden beam erupted from the lead Ori warship, smashing on the shields of a Ha'tak, and destroying the ship as the beam recollected.

Missiles and energy beams and Railgun shells erupted from the combined allied fleet, splashing harmlessly on the Ori ships.

"Oh my god," Carter whispered, covering her mouth as four Ori beams smashed on the rear of the Asgard O'Neill-class ship, blowing its shields and snapping the ship in half, destroying it.

Mitchell looked away as a 304 was impacted by two Ori beam weapons, and torn to pieces by the ferocity of the attack. Explosions rippled across the hull, pieces of metal and steams of air gushed out. The Hierarch's eyes followed a small, near-invisible F-302 spiral out of the hanger bay of the doomed _Korolev_, the shockwaves of the explosion pushing it forward.

The image blurred once more, and showed a field, a pure green field with patches of flowers, beautiful blue-silver flowers. In the distance, a long mountain range was visible with no end, and a towering forest covered the distance. He saw Vala smile dreamily at and then cringe as tiny oval-shaped craft descended from orbit in a scattered V-formation.

Wings of Death Gliders chased after them, no formation or order, firing randomly at the fighters. Teal'c nodded in approval as two of the alien fighters were shot down by the terrible aim of the Jaffa manning the Gliders. "So begins the end of the Free Jaffa," the Hierarch boomed.

Suddenly the oval-shaped fighters broke formation into two inverted crescents, firing off rapid bolts, blasting away the Jaffa fighters, whittling them in quick succession. On the field, Jaffa ran as soldiers in metallic armor ("almost like English knights," Daniel whispered,) brandishing their own staff weapons and fired well-aimed shot's. Scores of Jaffa crumbled as the others fell one by one. "The Ori are driven by false faith, but their belief in their heretical faith is strong, and they will never surrender, for Origin forbade them to."

"This is the coming storm." He declared loudly. "The Ori have grown tired of the push and pull between the True Faith, and their foolish Origin. They had deemed it necessary to further the pace of conversion.

"Even as we speak," he went on, "their devious warships are prepared to March into our galaxy, and force all to their foolish religion upon us all."

He paused for a brief moment.

"Bra'tac and Teal'c of Chulak," he said in a solemn voice, "SG-1, SG-5 and SG-8 of the Tau'ri, you represent the most powerful factions in this galaxy other than my Divine Covenant. It is my proposal, then, that together, we shall unite and defeat the Ori together."

He smiled behind his mask as they looked at him in shock.

Truth is told….

He didn't _need _their help.

Asgard Plasma Beam Weapons were elegant weapons, lacking brute strength. But even they were able to pierce the shields of Ori and Asuran warships with great ease after a handful of shots. They were able to fire more shots in a shorter period time because of the trade off.

Covenant Plasma Beam Weapons, however, were brutal, using cruder methods of controlling and forming the plasma beam to cause more damage. An interesting side-effect of this, however, was that the plasma was capable of adjusting course due to the cruder methods.

Asgard beams couldn't do that, and were at a disadvantage to the Covenant. At any rate, with less than a handful of hits, possible even just one Assault Carrier, he could destroy an Ori ship. CPBW's were slow to charge and fire, but virtually of the Covenant weapons was Plasma-based.

Victory was assured.

"What about the Asgard?"

He was broken from his train of thoughts and looked at Carter. "The Asgard?"

She nodded.

"They are the most technologically advanced-" he smirked, "- in the galaxy. Their ships are some of the strongest ships we've ever encountered. Shouldn't they be here with us?"

"Indeed-Thor would be very interested," Teal'c rumbled.

He stood then.

"Listen well, Colonel Carter, Master Jaffa Teal'c. The Asgard are no longer the Super-Power they were in the past," he declared with a hint of disgust and arrogance in his voice. "The old wars against the Goa'uld, the Replicator invasion, the rise of Anubis, all devastated the Asgard. They are past their prime, their society, their military; they are all a decaying race."

'_In more than one way,_' he thought.

"Dude, the Asgard can kick your sorry ass all the way past the galaxy!" Mitchell said arrogantly, smirking.

"True-the Asgard are a truly powerful," A Jaffa barked, "They lasted a thousand years against the Replicators in bitter war."

The images dispersed then.

His eyes flared, causing them all, even Teal'c, to flinch.

"The Age of the Asgard is past, they cannot reach the level of power they once had. How many ships do they have now, tell me? A few dozen, perhaps less ships, tell me, now. In the time, however, the Covenant possesses thousands of ships, each more powerful if not more than an Asgard flagship."

"Oh yeah?" Vala said toy fully.

He growled:

"Do you wish to test my strength?"

Bra'tac stood up, slamming his fist on the table. His eyes burned with a fury of belief in freedom and atheism.

"Yes, we would dare test your strength," he roared fiercely, causing Teal'c and two other Jaffa to look at him in shock, "The Covenant cannot be as powerful as you say. The Free Jaffa Nation possesses a hundred Ha'tak's, many thousands of Al'kesh and thousand of Death Gliders! We have legions of Jaffa who are willing to lay down their lives in order to fight back the False Gods that would dare enslave us once more! We will never bow down!"

The Hierarch, thanks' to his mask, didn't show any emotion. Inside the armor, Reed cringed and felt his heart beat faster. But with a cool and collected attitude, he turned his head and glared at the Jaffa, whose chest was beating rapidly, and his mouth was a thin line.

"Are you done yet?"

The Jaffa became ever more enraged.

"Do you dare attempt to assault the Second Son of God?" The Hierarch taunted, his eyes flaring. "The Covenant spans a great deal of space in the Outer Rim of this galaxy, and we continue to spread deeper and deeper into the galaxy. Our fleets, our weapons are unparalleled. Divine power fuels our advancement, sheer faith and loyalty pushes us ahead to victory. You have taken the first time in understanding, Bra'tac, by seeing the Goa'uld for what they were: False Gods."

"First step?"

He nodded. "Indeed, the first step. Now you have united your people together into a single government, a single entity that still manages to hold together no matter how fragile that unity is. I can make it strong, strong enough to hold even when the Ori have begun to force your world's to their heretical beliefs. Simply, all you have to do, is declare your allegiance, not to me, not to Jesus, and not to any of my commanders, but to the One God."

Bra'tac looked insulted.

"NEVER!!"

The Hierarch stood up, then. In a cool and collected manner he raised his arm from beneath his cloak and snapped his fingers. A small glow emanated from the palm of his glove, and then faded away. Before their eyes, the ball hanging above them lowered, dimming as the color turned darker. The Hierarch looked at it, the dim light coming from the ball reflecting off his helmet. "So deluded in false ways, is he not father," the Hierarch muttered.

"You dare insult a Master Jaffa?" Bra'tac sputtered. Teal'c stood up, growling as he took a step forward.

Reed looked at the Jaffa and shook his head. "Eventually, the Lord has plans for this galaxy, and yet I am simply trying to save lives. The Final Revelation continues where the Old Revelation leaves off. Strife and war will erupt once more at the end of my brother Jesus Second Death. Once he ascends to Heaven, I shall come to punish the wicked and recreate peace in a new image. This image shall be what I desire, and from that, suffer and pain will end, hunger and poverty will vanish, and all of the curses of the Devil that remained will be vanquished. Yet I am not," he warned, "unwilling to wipe out your Jaffa Nation if it is necessary."

"Do we have a say in this?"

"But of course, Daniel Jackson."

He cleared his throat. "Ahem, right. Listen, can we go? I mean, why do you need us now?"

With a sigh of regret (he had lost track of why he had initially brought them here, and lost much of his momentum and prestige as well,) he waved his hand. "Indeed, Daniel Jackson. Yet how can you leave now, when you dared assault one of the newest world's that was brought into the Covenant? How can you leave when this _Shol'va_, this Master Jaffa assaulted the Covenant?"

Daniel opened his mouth and then closed it.

"Yet do not worry. You will leave, for the Covenant is not cruel, nor are we one to hold grudges for long, yet you must wait here. Punishment shall be simple, for your lives are of great importance, not just to me, but to the grand designs of God."

Teal'c grunted.

He spread his hands to his sides, and beams of light covered the table. Plates of food appeared before them of all sorts. From alien foods to the main staples of the Tau'ri, all were there. Pitchers of drinks, wines, beer's, sodas, and juices also appeared, as with the proper plates, dishes, cups and bowls. Mitchell's eyes widened as he saw a giant hamburger beam up in front of him. "Sweet Jesus!"

The Hierarch reached out and grabbed a large green apple, freshly washed and freshly picked. He turned and walked away, the doors swinging open for him as he walked on out. "Enjoy your divine feast," the Hierarch said, his voice echoing, "For you will never have such a feast until you ascend to Heaven."


	18. Chapter 18

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Soulless reader: The Covenant are going to face threats very soon. In fact, the Ori are going to be their first threat. **

**tamahome8: Yeah… I knew what could happen when I made my Covenant a religious theocracy. Eh, it works though.**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

**Co written with VexMaster. Without him, this chapter would have never been possible. **

**.**

**.**

_Who also brings me out from my enemies; you even lift me above those who rise up against me; you rescue me from the violent man._

**2 Samuel 22:49**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

**~This is the Earth ship Odyssey. ~**

Picard frowned at the transmission. "Data, any starships on Starfleet records with the name," he asked.

Data paused for a moment.

"Two ships sir: USS _Odyssey,_ an Excelsior-class starship destroyed during the Borg invasion and the USS _Odyssey, _a Galaxy-class starship that was lost during the fall of Earth. No other ship has had the name since. This ship, too, appears to not be of Starfleet origin, its design and systems are different."

"That's obvious," Riker muttered.

Picard sent Riker a glare and then focused on the ship that claimed to be an Earth Ship. He wondered who made it, and where they were. The hull was entirely composed of the strong metal Trinium, and it's power source was incredible, though it paled to those used by the Covenant and the 'ZPM's' the _Enterprise _had.

Picard breathed in deep and nodded.

"On screen." Then as a human male's face appeared on the screen, Picard spoke.

"I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Federation starship USS Enterprise... I..."

Picard paused.

He came here because it was Earth, and other than the escape, he didn't really have a plan, not a formulated plan at any rate. He wasn't sure on what to do now, now that he was here and faced with a ship that claimed to be from Earth.

Suddenly, he heard a voice from outside the screen.

"My god, is that Captain Picard?"

"What? From Star Trek?"

"Seriously!"

"No way!"

"Move, let me see!"

"I can't get a look!"

"Quiet," the man in the screen hissed to the voices.

At once, they became quiet.

The man in charge turned his head lightly then turned back to the screen. Picard got a clear sense of command from the man, even though they were on opposite ships and no where near each other. He instantly liked the man, and felt respect for him, and his eyes, a tired sort of eyes, told a lot.

"I am Colonel Paul Emerson of Earth ship Odyssey. Please, what is your purpose here in Earth Space?"

Picard thought for a moment, but he couldn't think of anything.

"I... am not sure. We didn't expect to find Earth intact, much less having a ship in orbit. We just escaped the Covenant Empire, and... Well, we were just hoping to get away."

"Covenant?" Emerson frowned. "What do you mean 'escaped?''

"Escape," Picard clarified, a bit of a toying tone in his voice, "as in flee, run, scatter, and run from a damn enemy!"

He said the last thing in a shout.

Emerson didn't show any emotion. "Where the hell are you from?"

Picard looked away.

Should he say where he was from?

Picard paused.

"What Stardate is this?"

Emerson frowned: "What?"

"Stardate."

"Listen, I have no idea what a 'Stardate' is," Emerson growled, narrowing his eyes, "but the _year_, if that is what you're asking, is 2006, okay? It's not Stardate, but it's called a 'year,' not to sound rude."

Picard frowned.

"Where are you from?"

"Earth."

Emerson smiled. "Sure, whatever, but Earth doesn't have anything as fancy or sleek or as powerful as what you have right now, and just asked by the year, or 'Stardate,' which _tells _me you aren't from Earth."

Picard sighed. "I can assure you Mr. Emerson I am."

"Right."

"Let me guess, you're from the Federation?" Emerson sneered. "What, your a Socialist Utopian society with the Vulcan's, and the Klikgons or something? Really, you have the appearance and the ship, but get your facts straight. Now," he became serious, "tell me why you are here. Who sent you? The Ori, the Jaffa, the Lucian Alliance, Ba'al," he became colder, "the Covenant?"

He laughed.

It was cold laugh.

"Right, sure buddy."

Picard frowned.

"I am sure what you are getting at. You seem to know much about us... Federation and how it is... I mean was..."

Emerson shook his head. "If you don't tell us who or why you're here, we'll have to force you out. And I don't want to do anything that we'll regret doing, understand? So, tell us and we'll let you go. Does that sound fair or does this have to become a talk with guns and bullets and nukes?"

Picard narrowed his eyes.

"You will regret it if you take any action against us, Colonel." That sounded weird. He was never this aggressive.... but it fell so right! Was this what Q was talking about back when the Federation had never met the Covenant? He hoped it wasn't, but everything suddenly started to feel natural.

It was strange sensation.

But an exhilarating one.

Picard took a deep breath. "Colonel," it sounded strange using an Air Force term instead of a proper sea-based naval rank. "Colonel, perhaps we should meet face to face? Do you have access to a Transporter?"

"What now?"

Then someone outside the screen slightly whispered to Emerson. "Same as Asgard beaming as teleportation, sir."

"Then why didn't he say so," he whispered back.

Picard frowned.

Emerson turned back to Picard.

"So where should have this meeting? Your ship or mine?"

Picard looked at the bare and grey appearance of his ship, and its bridge. He glanced at his own bridge and said, "Perhaps mine."

He paused for a moment. "I presume you do have access to Transporter technology, or 'Beaming technology,' as you called it." He remembered that was what the Covenant Prior had called Transporter technology during First Contact.

Did they use the same technology?

Emerson nodded.

"Yes, we do. Just give us a coordinates."

Picard nodded, and Data quickly sent the coordinates.

Emerson nodded on the screen. "Excellent. We'll be-"

Before he could finish, a beam of white-blue light enveloped him, and same beam appeared before Picard. "Data, raise shields and weapons," Picard ordered, eyes wide at the possible attack. "And-"

"- Over there soon."

Emerson looked around and grumbled. "Damn Heimdall."

Emerson sighed and found him self to be alone. "Damn that arrogant Asgard. I wasn't ready yet."

"Colonel?"

Emerson paused and looked at Picard who was sitting in his Captain's chair. Emerson became rod-stiff and extended his hand. "Colonel Paul Emerson of the United States Air Force," he recited. "I welcome myself unto your ship, 'Captain' Picard."

Picard was slight flabbergasted but nodded.

"Welcome aboard, 'Colonel' Emerson. That was somewhat unexpected."

Emerson smiled sheepishly.

"Our resident 'transport officer' is somewhat impatient for human... slowness." He mumbled under his breath: "Reminds us every time someone passes by his station. Damn arrogant Asgard. Why couldn't we have gotten someone who was nicer, or at least tried to be nice than this one."

"Excuse me?" Picard said. He wondered if the man was okay.

Emerson waved his hand, and Picard dropped the matter. The Man had to be okay, since he commanded a starship. Of course, Hasley had commanded a starship, and had led the Federation on a faster path to decimation.

Picard raised an eyebrow. He didn't bother with life sign scan, so he didn't know there was an alien aboard.

"I am guessing that your 'transport officer' is not human?"

"Ah... Our Roswell Grey was... a Ferengi from a Federation space station Deep Space Nine... I would love to meet this Asgard, but I believe we have other things to talk about..." Picard trailed off.

"Such as?"

Picard paused for a moment, wondering on how to lead the conversation. "Colonel Emerson, would you like a tour of my ship? I can assure you; this ship is unlike any ship you will have encountered."

He shook his head. "No offense, but when you've seen one ship, you've seen them all, I'm afraid Captain. Besides, we have something's to talk about."

"And," he added, "I have important business to attend to you.... but," he amended, taking in the sleek and futuristic look of the bridge, the level of comfort it had, "perhaps I can take a look around."

Picard nodded. "Excellent, follow me. Number One... Mr. Riker, you have the bridge. Report to me if anything changes, understood?"

Riker nodded. "Yes sir."

As they walked, Picard showed Emerson around the ship. Emerson was awed by the sleek appearance of everything he saw. It was noting like the _Odyssey _or any other Earth ship: all Earth ships are designed to for pure use, no luxury or anything. This ship was not a pure warship.

"Is it," he asked.

Picard nodded, a bit confused. "Of course the _Enterprise _is a warship. However it is also an exploration and survey ship."

"Makes about sense," Emerson muttered.

They walked more, around the ship, meeting some of the crew. Emerson flinched as he saw the medical bay, the badly wounded and the dead bodies that were in bags. It was horrible, and he wondered what happened. As Picard had expected, the Colonel Emerson asked the question.

"You've met the Covenant?" Emerson said.

Picard nodded...

Picard nodded gravely. "I'm afraid so." He narrowed his eyes then. "They invaded and destroyed the Federation, the Star Empire, the Dominion and so many more. So much death and carnage, so many worlds that have been reduced to shards of glass, all in the name of their primitive and foolish religion. For a society as advanced and as powerful as they, they are hopelessly backwards."

"They invaded," Emerson muttered. "Strange."

"Strange? How so?"

"From what we've seen, the Covenant only exists in the Outer Rim of the Galaxy," Emerson explained. "They're pushing deeper of course, converting more planets to their religion each day, but they're never actually invaded. The only example I can think of is Tegalus, and that was simply protecting one of our worlds." He frowned. "Tell me again, where your Federation was located."

Picard hesitated.

How could he tell this man his Federation was in a few hundred light-year radius from Sol, from here, in another dimension? Did they know that the Covenant was an Inter-dimensional Empire? Even he, who had seen strange and horrible things for most of his Starfleet Career, couldn't believe it.

But he relented.

"Sol."

"Excuse me?"

Sol, the core of the Federation, a multi-species alliance that spans near 400 light-years and with 200 planetary members," Picard said.

"Ah, interest-Sol!"

Picard nodded stiffly.

"What the hell are you talking about; we're at sol, our Solar System. Earth doesn't have any colonies! And we are most certainly not part of any Federation of any sort, we would know that."

Picard sighed. "It's complicated."

"Then shoot."

"The Covenant is…. Larger than it first appears," he said lamely. "When the Covenant first appeared over _my _Earth, we lost a handful of ships to one ship that wasn't even hurt by our weapons. When they returned, it was a crusade. Two thousand ships swept aside all of our allies, our enemies, converted worlds or burned worlds. We lost our entire fleet, our way of life, in a single month. They had already conquered two or 2½ of the four quadrants that our galaxy is split into."

"Alright…"

Picard went on.

"When I was captured, I was told that we were doing Dimensional jumps. I first took that as the way they traveled, Hyperdrive or Slipstream I think, but it wasn't. No, the real meaning is far more horrifying." He took a deep breath. "The Covenant isn't just an Empire that exists on the border of your galaxy, it's much larger. It is an Empire that is conquering other galaxies in other dimensions, spreading like a plague that hides in the fields. It is an Empire that could already span a hundred galaxies!"

Emerson paled.

"What the hell are you talking about," he sputtered.

Emerson slowly spoke.

"If that's true... I... I have to talk with my superiors about this."

Picard nodded grimly.

"I understand."

Emerson sighed and looked at Picard.

"So, if you're... Earth is destroyed, and then what will you do?"

Picard looked sad as he remembered his destroyed, charred Earth. Earth was scorched, a quarter of the planet burned by the Covenant's Plasma Weapons. He withheld a shudder, and the urge to vomit. He couldn't imagine the pain and suffering of the millions of people on the Moon and Earth, burned to ash and soot, if they were that lucky. He had suffered plasma burns, and they had hurt. He couldn't even, no; he wouldn't _dare _imagine what a full burst from a ship-weapon plasma burst could do. Or how it would feel.

Why would be even want to know?

He shuddered.

"I… haven't really thought that out fully," he said finally.

Emerson nodded.

"I expected that."

Picard narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean," he said, an edge to his voice. He didn't really like the way the Colonel had said that.

"I'm sorry?"

"What did you mean by that?"

"Ah, nothing," Emerson, a bit alarmed. He wondered why the Captain was acting so defensive. Did he have something to hide, though he had been kind? Then again, SG-1 had encountered races who acted nice only to use them. But he had a strong feeling that Picard wasn't like that at all.

Picard nodded: "Hmm…."

A bit deterred, Emerson took a deep breath. Emerson looked around him and turned to Picard." I will talk with my superiors and see what we can come up. I am sure that we come to some sort of agreement that is good for both sides. Perhaps we can offer you asylum, a place to relax."

Picard smiled wearily. "That would be ideal, Colonel."

Emerson was about to say something when Data said something. "Captain, we're detecting four more ships approaching. Three share the same size, weight, power and appearance of the _Odyssey,_" Data reported.

Picard narrowed his eyes.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Emerson's face didn't betray any emotion at the question. He had faced General O'Neill, Landry, Hammond, Teal'c _and _Bra'tac all at once, and he hadn't broken a sweat, hadn't shown any emotion. Picard didn't scare him at least, not even with that glare emanating from that hawk-like face.

But he did speak.

"Ships."

"Yes, we can see that. Is this some sort of attack?" He accused.

Emerson shook his head.

"No Colon-Captain," he said, catching himself. It was still strange, two hours of talking with him and he still couldn't get used to a Navy man running a ship. "Three of our teams were captured by the Covenant a day ago. We were preparing to link up with our allies to rescue them when you arrived."

Ah.

Picard was glad – Emerson had seemed like a reasonable man.

"How many ships are you sending?"

"Four Ha'tak's including their Glider complements, twelve Al'kesh, three 304's, and the _Prometheus_," he said. "It should be enough for a quick and clean cut into Covenant space, beam/ring up SG-1, SG-5, and SG-8 and any surviving Jaffa without losing too much. Hopefully, we won't lose any people in this mission."

"You have more 304's?"

Emerson chuckled.

"Of course we do. The _Odyssey _is the second ship of the line. The 303 is the only it's kind; the 304's are better ships. The _Daedalus _returned from its supply run from Pegasus for new upgrades, it's the first DSC-304." Then his tone became a cold. "The third 304 was originally named the _Minotaur,_ and we were rushing it into service when the Russians took it over by using the lease on the Stargate. Those damn Russkie's forced us to hand over a damn space ship!"

"I'm sorry," Picard said slowly. It was shocking how primitive 21st Century humans were, even without the fallout and hatred that the Third Word War had created. He wondered how events in his dimension would have been…

"At any rate, the Russians renamed it _Korolev. _It's not finished though," he said a bit sadly, "Hyperdrive can only go at 3/4 the speed it's supposed to go, it's shields are good only at 75%, and the Sublight are at half power. Added to that more than a quarter of the systems aren't even fully functional yet, it's a surprise that it's managed to actually get into space without falling apart."

Picard frowned.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes, something is."

Emerson frowned too: "Well then what?"

"The Covenant possesses advanced weapons and shields," Picard said. "Surely you know of this, correct? After all, the Covenant seem to have a greater presence in this galaxy, dimension, than in ours." '_At least, in terms of un-conquered territories_,' he thought bitterly. '_They seem to want a 'peaceful' conversion here._'

"Of course, the _Prometheus _saw it firsthand a few weeks ago."

"Then remember what I told you. Our weapons, all of them energy based, were completely ineffective against them. Before I was captured," '_before I surrendered the Federation to the Covenant,_' "one of our Admirals brought all of our ships, almost 300, around Earth. A _handful _of Covenant ships wiped them out, and commenced a limited bombardment of Earth and our lunar colonies. And they didn't even lose a single ship! As soon as you entered space above their world, I can assure you that you and your allies will be either destroyed or captured, at the hands of the Covenant."

Emerson paled.

"What do you expect us to do then," he argued. "We don't leave our people behind, unless we are certain they're dead. And SG-1 has a streak of getting out of tough situations, and so do SG-5 and-8."

Picard grimaced.

"Number One, status of the Warp-Hyperdrive?" He called out.

"Operational," he said.

"Weapons and Shields?"

"All are at full power," someone else.

Picard looked back at Emerson. "We'll join you. If this ZPM's are as powerful as you say, then we are willing to part with three of our four. That will give you an advantage, and hopefully keep you alive."

"T-Thank you!"

He waved his hand and took a seat. "It's what comrades should do. The _Enterprise _will link up with your fleet as soon as the ZPM's are placed."

Emerson nodded.

"Let's go."


	19. Chapter 19

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate**

**.**

**.**

**Rivenn: Thanks for the support. I can imagine Teal'c's reaction…**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**.**

**.**

_Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; _

**Hebrews 12:28**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

As SG-1, SG-5 and SG-8 were lead out of the room by two pair's of Horus Guard's with their belly full with food and their minds full with troubling thoughts; the Hierarch beamed himself into the bridge of the _Lucifer_ and began the preparations for the following Second Crusade.

He stood up on the podium and placed his gloved hand on a glowing ball of perfect octagons. The octagons were see-through and crystal-like, and as soon as he placed his hand on it, the ball dimmed and then flashed. "Show me the progress of the Second Crusade Fleet," he said slowly. "All data and all facts, as well contact Hallowed Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree"

The device allowed him to show his appearance across realities, in perfect image and speech and feeling. Images flashed in front of him, as did numbers and graphs and schematics.

"Two hundred and forty nine ships," he muttered to himself, "merely a small percentage of the 2000 ships necessary for a complete Crusade Fleet. Perhaps, though, I do not need a full fleet to conquer the Star Wars Galaxy. The full force I sent to the Star Trek Galaxy was overkill; I barely lost any ships to the various powers in that dimension."

He read the ship figures.

**.**

**43 Assault Carriers**

**77 Basestars**

**93 CCS-class Battlecruisers**

**36 Destroyers**

**.**

A small number, but a strong force; now for his troop numbers...

**.**

**4000 Jaffa**

**6000 Sangheili Soldiers**

**3600 Kig-Yar **

**5400 Centurions**

**2000 Terminators (650/800)**

**1600 Humans**

**.**

He grinned.

He was confident that even this small token force would be able to destroy anything he met in that Galaxy.

Of course, this would be a stronger force against a more powerful and numerical force that dominated the known galaxy.

He had surveyed several possible candidates, and he had found two that he liked since they offered the most promise of easily converting them to the Covenant, as well as providing a challenge.

The first possible dimension, the first candidate, was a dimension where the Yuuzhan Vong had invaded decades earlier, during the Clone Wars, forcing the CIS and Republic to unite to combat a more technologically advanced force, as well as a more unconventional military.

The Republic and CIS manufacturing sites were three times what they were in the OTL Clone Wars, and, when conquered, would provide a suitable galaxy for his Covenant to use to build more ships. He could create more Centurions, more Terminators, and more ships with the vast machine-creating factories the CIS had, and use the Jedi as a Elite Military Force.

He cracked a grin.

His Crusaders.

His Warrior-Monks.

The Order of the Holy Knights.

Yes…

Yes…

That would do fine.

Now, enough of this, he had to prepare this force for the Crusade. To do this, he needed to speak with his Hallowed Admiral. The Sangheili was the only being that he could trust, who had the ability, to lead a military campaign. Of course, there were others, the Arbiter of the Halo-universe for example, or Thel Vadamee. Those two were able military officers. But he had already sent them on a mission; the final completion of the Battlestar Galactica-Dimension had had first gone to, and the other to the Halo-Dimension.

He had only a handful of Sangheili he trusted to conquer other galaxies in other dimensions for the good and glory of the Covenant. He didn't trust any other race, to lead his fleets.

The Centurions and Cylons weren't much of military commanders, their failure to crush a single Battlestar and its refugee fleet proved that. The Kig-yar weren't that smart, his Engineer's and Terminator didn't know how to even pilot a fighter. And he still didn't trust his Jaffa, or the Humans for that matter, that were in his Empire to have command over a powerful Covenant vessel.

He sighed.

Who knew running a Divine Empire would have been this complicated?

He chuckled.

"Bring forth the Hallowed Admiral," he declared his hand still on the glow ball. The numbers and words vanished, and the ball glowed a bit more, and then dimmed, as the Hallowed Admiral appeared before him. The Admiral bowed before him, honored to be in his presence.

"Divine Hierarch," he uttered. "You bless me."

'_Indeed I do._'

"How goes the progress of the Crusade, it has been two months." '_One month for the fall of the major Alpha Quadrant powers,_' he thought. '_Truly I did not imagine the Borg and the Dominion, as well as the other 'Minor' powers would have taken so long. This was a presumably easy Crusade…_'

He added, "Rise, my Admiral."

Respectfully, the elite Sangheili rose to his hoofed feet, and lowered his head. He, in his mind, was still not worthy. "The Crusade is completed," he said, pride evident in his voice for accomplishing such a task. "The major powers in this galaxy have fallen, and now many billions follow Salvation. They desire for a speech, as do many in the Crusade Fleet."

Speech?

The Hierarch nodded. "You have accomplish a great thing, for the Covenant," he said, his voice hoarse. "However, whilst the bulk of the Crusade is completed, it is not yet completed."

"Divine One?"

He took a deep breath.

"Beyond this simple galaxy you have brought into the waiting arms of the Covenant," he said, "there are more. Entire galaxies have not heard or seen the glory that is the Covenant, and remain enshrouded in darkness. Thus, whilst you have completed the task in this galaxy, your task is not yet fully completed." He saw the Sangheili's narrow, beady eyes widen. "Indeed, I do mean," he continued, "you must bring your fleet and subdue the heretical beings in other galaxies, beings who might refuse the Grace that is God."

…

…

Silence…

…

…

…

Silence…

…

…

…

The Hierarch frowned as the Admiral looked at him, his mandibles drooped a bit, his eyes still wide. To Reed, it was comedic, and he wanted to laugh so much at the sight, the proud Sangheili _Dumb-struck_. But the Hierarch did not laugh, not publically, and he glared at the Sangheili. "Speak, Hallowed Admiral," he declared, his eyes flaring, his tone darker, "Speak now. Has Satan prevented you from speaking, or are you unable to respond?"

The Sangheili closed his 'mouth.'

"Forgive me Divine One," he said humbly, "but I was merely dumbfounded. Was the purpose of the Crusade not to subdue these beings because they refused to accept Salvation? Was their devastation and destruction not because they insulted the One Lord, and our ways of life?"

He narrowed his eyes at the Sangheili.

"Truth."

"Yet you wish for us to venture to another galaxy?"

"How is that an issue, my Admiral?"

…

…

"It is… not our purpose?"

The Hierarch frowned even more at that. "Not your purpose," he said quietly. "What do you mean?"

"It is for a Prior to do," he said. "To venture to other worlds beyond the glory that is the Covenant, and brings beings into the Covenant, to speak when beings wish to refuse Salvation. Should a Prior not be sent, before a Crusade Fleet, before I am, sent to force them?"

The Hierarch thought about that and agreed. "You speak Truth, Xytan 'Jar Wattinree," he said at least, after a few seconds. "You speak Truth, and for that, you prove that you too have grown wiser. Already, a Prior-" '_Or rather in a few moments,_' "- is preparing to travel to the other galaxy, and see if it's being desire to accept Salvation, and embrace our awaiting arms."

"Hail the Covenant," the being roared.

"Hail," the Hierarch said. "Have you built a Galactic Communication Network," he asked. The GCN was a subspace communication relay network, which was obvious by its name. It span the entire galaxy, allowing instant communication across the galaxy, to whomever, and whenever.

Each Relay Station was only 500 meters long, and was powered by a pair of advanced Plasma Reactors. They used moderately powerful shields, which was strong enough to easily shrug of any attacks from any of the surviving powers in the Star Trek-Galaxy, or the Minor Powers.

He smirked.

He didn't fully understand the way his particular pieces of technology all worked, it was his occupation to. He had to run the Covenant, make it's decisions and ensure that it was stable. He had to ensure that the people obeyed the laws and scriptures, and that they did enter Heresy…

…

…

"_HERESY!"_

_The Hierarch roared in anger as a shadowy-faced Sangheili growled at him, snarling as dozens of Horus Guard's, Sangheili, clearly, approached him. They leveled their weapons at him as two ignited Plasma Blades. "You dare rise against the Divine Power that the Son of God Possess?" He raised his hand at them and made a fist. "You shall perish a thousand deaths!"_

_The Sangheili with the blurred face sneered. He took a step forward and two blades ignited in his hands, emanating from his armored wrist. _

"_It is not us, the Sangheili, who have committed the Greatest Sin, Pretender," the Heretic snarled, "It is you. You who have lead us into war, to break the sacred oaths we swore. No longer shall we follow a liar and traitor! No longer will we bow before a False Prophet!" _

_What?_

"_What do you speak of," the Hierarch hissed angrily. _

_One of the Horus Guard's roared with a zealous tone and lunged forward, igniting a Plasma Blade and slashing. The Hierarch ignited his own blade, extending from his armored wrist, and parried the blow, and pressed his other arm against the Horus Guard's chest. _

_A green glow flashed briefly as the shield failed, and his other plasma blade protruded from the back of the Sangheili. The reptilian-like creature blinked in pain, and roared in anger. Before he could make another strike, the Hierarch swung his arm, cutting the Sangheili in half, his blade boiling away flesh and armor and organs. It was an neat and bloodless cut. _

"_You spill the blood of my comrade," the Sangheili roared furiously, taking a step forward. _

"_You commit Heresy, and he struck. This will be merciful compared to what I shall do to you, unless you relinquish your sins, and rejoin Salvation."_

"_Under a Pretender?_

"_NEVER!"_

…

…

The Hierarch blinked, and held his head, woozy.

Did he… just have a vision?

"Divine One?"

The Hierarch took a deep and calming breath and gazed back at the concerned look on his Hallowed Admiral's. "Assemble a Combined Fleet," he ordered coldly, "The Covenant must spread across the galaxies, to ensure that species, those who are alone and enshrouded in darkness, will rejoice and bathe in the light that only the Covenant can give."

The Sangheili bowed.

"Yes, you're Holiness."

He raised his arm, and the hologram vanished, the ball dimming. '_Soon, my Covenant will expand to an unlimited number… yet my vision…_' he frowned at that as he sat on his Gravity Chair. '_What does my vision mean? How can my loyal Sangheili call me, their Hierarch, a Pretender?_'

He shuddered.

How?

He didn't have much to think, however.

As he rotated his chair to the large view screen, he saw Hyperspace window tear open in front of him, and a dozen Ha'tak's, Al'kesh, and a number of what were clearly Earth ships rocket out.

He growled at the last ship that glided out.

Behind them was the USS _Enterprise_.


	20. Chapter 20

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**CC: Thanks for the support**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Wisky, good to hear from you buddy. Thanks for reviewing! **

**DX: Thanks for the support. **

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**.**

**.**

_David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all." _

**1 Samuel 30:8**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

_Snap!_

_Hiss!_

For a moment seemingly frozen in time, the USS _Enterprise_ floated motionless in space, before a vastly superior force of a dozen Covenant warships, ranging from their kilometer long Destroyers, to the gargantuan gray-hued warship. In an instant, the false tranquility dissolved into an explosion of violence. The four Jaffa Ha'taks careened above a Destroyer, blasting it with bolts from its Staff Cannons. The shields of the powerful ship flared and held, if only for a moment. Caught off guard, the crew of the Destroyer paid for their folly with their lives, as the ship's hull ruptured and boiled, and was torn apart in a glorious flash.

The Al'kesh strafed forward, and unleashed a deadly barrage of plasma bombs, crude weapons, on the hull of an Agricultural Support Ship. Oxygen shot out of the ship, as the frail shields on the craft were overwhelmed (unprepared for an attack,) and began to 'slide' to the right. Without a bridge, taken out by the initial burst of the Al'kesh Run, the ship smashed into the hull of a nearby Destroyer, destroying both ships in a burst of explosive hell.

The _Enterprise _leapt forward, escorted by the _Daedalus _and the _Odyssey_ into the midst of the scattered Covenant formation, spitting Plasma beams and Drones, Railgun shells and missiles at every angle.

A Covenant Battlecruiser took the brunt of the attack. In a few impossibly chaotic seconds, the shields of the craft flared all around it. The crew was not as foolish as the crew of the Destroyer had been, and took the missiles and Railguns with great ease, and its lateral lines warmed as it targeted the Odyssey. But its shields were spliced as beams slice through it, and drones pierced its hull and tore through it, layer by layer, without stopping.

Even without direct orders from the Hierarch, who was not taking part in the assault on Primo Solis, the commanders of the other defending ships, twenty Destroyers, seven CCS-class Battlecruisers, and the two mighty Basestar's hastily attempted to fire upon the _Enterprise _and its fleet, as they twisted and turned through their formation. But as impossible as it seemed, the _Enterprise_ was not only surviving, but it was dealing severe damage to the Covenant fleet.

It is a maxim of space combat that a numerically superior force can sometimes "get in its own way" when dealing with a single, determined foe, and Picard was pushing this advantage to the hilt.

The Covenant warriors, despite their numerical superiority and training, had difficulty bringing their cannons and launchers to bear on the fleet as the enemy fleet spread themselves in and around the Covenant forces. Covenant weapons smashed upon each other, as they targeted the faster and more agile ships. Seraph and Cylon Fighters trailed the tight squadrons of Death Gliders and Al'kesh, ripping the fragile craft to shreds.

Onboard the USS _Prometheus_, Prendergast flinched as a Plasma beam smashed on the portside of the Battlecruiser. "The shields down to 74%, sir," Marks said, his voice oddly calm but also fearful, "rerouting power from emergency Hyperdrive Jump to the shields."

"Have you found SG-1,-5, and-8's signal's yet," he barked as the Earth ship made a tight turn, and narrowly avoided a swarm of drones that impacted on a squadron of Covenant Fighters. The Drones split into groups, the ones remaining, and followed the Prometheus. "Get those things off our six," he added, ordering. "Realign our side Railguns."

"Yes sir."

The ship shook as its shields took another hit.

Tiny but powerful explosions rippled behind the Battlecruiser as Trinium-Carbon-Naquadah shells smashed into the Alteran-designed weapons. The older shells of the First and Second Generation Railgun's were simple weapons. They weren't explosive, not like the newer designs. With the threat of the Covenant, and the increased budget the IOA had put through, the _Prometheus _and its sister ships used more powerful shells for their Railguns.

The Railguns were four inches larger, and fired a Potassium-Naquadah-Naquadria-enhanced round, encased in a Trinium-Naquadah based shell. The shells were bigger as well, and had a limited targeting ability. While it wouldn't be too effective against the shields of a Covenant ship, it was more than enough to destroy the drones trailing the _Prometheus_.

"Have you-"

"No, sir, I think our sensors are being jammed because I can't get anything off the planet, sir."

Damn.

With a sigh he shook his head.

"How's the _Korolev_," Prendergast asked as the _Prometheus _dunk beneath one of the large star-shaped ships, avoiding two bolts of plasma. The _Enterprise_-he had watched the original Star Trek when he had been younger and some of the new versions, and was still amazed to find that the Star Trek Universe was real-glided above the small Battlecruiser, and blasted the shields of the ship with plasma beams and drones. The shields held, and the star-shaped ship turned on its axis, spinning like a while as beams smashed on the _Enterprise_'s own shields.

"It's going to pass right in front of us," an officer said.

"Now?"

"Yes, sir."

As if on cue, the newly-acquired Russian ship _Korolev _came spinning in front of them, literally spinning, as a small swarm of drones followed it, spiraling behind it, like angry bees. He grinned at the comparison, and saw several drones smash into each other, destroying each other. "How the hell can he do that with a ship that's only half-functioning," he muttered.

He chuckled.

"Fire forward batteries on the drones, and make contact with Colonel Chekov," he said as a Ha'tak dropped out of Hyperspace above them, firing a few pot shots at the Starfish (the nickname for the Covenant's star-shaped ship,) and then retreated back into Hyperspace.

"Yes, sir!"

Explosive shells ruptured out of the Railguns and curved slightly, exploding as they made contact with the drones. A large number of the shells, however, shot past the exploding drones, and self-detonated a bit further. "Colonel Chekov, how does the _Mino-_ah, I mean the _Korolev _feel?"

…

…

~_It is amazing, Comrade Colonel. Motherland Russia is grateful that you have given us a ship!_ ~

Pendergast grunted.

He still remembered the days of the Cold War. God, it was weird when he began to fly runs with Russian Fighters. He'd always expected that if he was in a Fighter near Russian, they'd be shooting each other and nukes would be thrown left and right, here and there.

Now, hell.

The United States Air Force had a fleet of Interstellar-Intergalactic warships, and now, the Russians had one. "Pretty soon, it'll be a Cold War in space," he muttered, "Can't wait for that." He cleared his throat and responded. "Good to hear Colonel. Take care of that ship."

Two grayish plumes of smoke shot out from the _Korolev _and impacted harmlessly on the shields of a Covenant Destroyer. A Hyperspace…_Slipstream_, Pendergast corrected himself, exit window ripped open above the Destroyer, and the _Enterprise _shot out, firing it's Beam Weapons and drones.

The Destroyer managed to fire off three bolts, two hitting the Federation ship, and the other hitting the _Korolev_. The empowered-Asgard shields flared, and the Korolev ducked beneath the Destroyer. The _Enterprise_'s shields took the blows, and entered Slipstream space again, unharmed. Behind it, the Destroyer cracked and ruptured in explosions.

However, in the few, and terribly short minutes that the combined forces of the Allied Races invaded the orbit of Primo Solis, the Covenant began to fight back. The other Basestar crashed into a Jaffa Ha'tak, its sharp points tearing through shield and hull alike. The advanced shields of the Basestar flared briefly in splotches as pieces of the Ha'tak shattered on it.

Covenant fighters launched from the star-shaped ship, purposely crashing into a flock of Death Gliders and an Al'kesh. He watched as the 304 _Daedalus _retreated into Hyperspace, trailed by an enormous Destroyer. Pendergast covered his face as two of the Covenant's Crescent-shaped ships crashed into the shields of the _Prometheus_, explosions rippling in front of his face.

"Shields down to 65%, sir!"

"Tactical Hyperspace jump," he ordered as the BC-303 made a loop, and early sped straight into the bulbous side of a Covenant Battlecruiser. He nearly fell of his seat as the 303 shook violently. A discharge of plasma erupted from the side of the Covenant warship, grazing the Asgard shields. "Now, goddamn it!"

"Yes sir!"

The shields flared, and were dangerously close to failing when the familiar Hyperspace window tore open in front of them, and the ship accelerated, drawn into the window, the window closing behind them.

Briefly, they saw the swirling colors of Hyperspace in front of them before it stretched, stars appearing.

Finally the ship was thrown forward, its shields flaring as a Covenant Teardrop smashed into it. The _Prometheus _made a tight curve, just as a Ha'tak charged in front of them, bombarding the shields of a Covenant Destroyer.

The sides of the Destroyer glowed, and a single beam erupted from the Destroyer, crashing on the golden shields of the Goa'uld warship. Pendergast grimaced as the beam went through the shield, and through the pyramid ship. To his surprise, the beam curved a bit, cutting the pyramid in half horizontally. He saw escape pods launch from the ship, only to be picked off by a small group of Drones and Covenant crafts. He looked away as his ship ducked beneath the Destroyer, blasting its shields with shells and missiles.

All useless.

Useless…

Useless…

"This is a rescue mission damn it," he muttered, "This isn't an invasion fleet. Get us closer to the planet," Pendergast spat.

"Sir!"

The _Prometheus _made another Hyperspace jump, and reappeared just above the planet, next to large space station. Pendergast gaped at the size, seven times as large as the International Space Station, and ordered evasive maneuvers as several Covenant fighters; Tear Drop's, broke from the battle above and chased after them. Railgun shells spattered on the Tear Drops, their shields holding, and some of them failing, as they rained down plasma upon them.

The ship shook with each bolt, straining to hold.

This was not good.

"Sir, the shield-"

"I know, I know!" Pendergast roared angrily. "Get us closer to the planet, atmosphere entrance, and try to locate our missing teams and Jaffa! NOW!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Hierarch frowned in anger as the _Enterprise _and the combined fleet of Jaffa-Tau'ri ships attacked his fleet. He had already lost an unnecessary number of ships to the surprise attack.

His two Basestar's tore apart another Ha'tak, while his small defensive force began to retaliate. The Tau'ri 304, the _Daedalus_, had already retreated after it had taken severe damage. But the other ships, the two other 304's and the _Prometheus _itself, were managing to evade his ship's weapons.

Worse, the Ha'tak's were doing the same. The highly inferior Goa'uld ships managed to destroy some of ships that were taken off guard, and damage a few that managed to raise their shields in time. He had already taken out most of them, and the one that remained was…. He frowned.

He scanned the ensuing war zone before him, and saw that the Ha'tak was missing. All he saw were the three Tau'ri vessels, the heretical and dangerous _Enterprise_, F-302's, Al'kesh, and Death Gliders running in between his ships, committing Hyperspace-Jump Attacks (which he admired,) but didn't see the last Ha'tak. "Where in the lord's name is it…" he muttered.

Where?

At long last, he powered the powerful engines of the _Lucifer, _and joined the battle, arming the many plasma weapons and drone launchers on the gray hull. The ship turned 90 degree's, and he felt a near-invisible vibration rumble on the ship, as if it had hit something. He was amused to find his missing Ha'tak had crashed upon the side of the _Lucifer_.

"Idiot Goa'uld," he sneered.

His defensive force was now retaliating even fiercely. Drones and plasma beams crisscrossed open space, smashing on allied shields, and on the shields of the enemy ships. Fighters and bombers swarmed across the hulls, blasting each other to shreds through sheer fire power or sheer numbers.

However, he was more concerned with the act that Picard had made contact with the Tau'ri, SG-Earth. The modified _Enterprise _had many experimental technologies on it, technology that he still had yet to put on his ships. Stronger Plasma Beam Weapons that didn't sacrifice elegance for power yet could still be manipulated to turn even after it was fired.

It's shields, which had a high mitigation field, and an experimental dispersion field mixed into it.

The ship also possessed a Drone Disruption Field, a DDF. The DDF deactivated an activated drone, rendering it useless. It was a technology he planned to use when he finished off the Replicators not too far from now, and for the multiple Stargate Dimensions he planned to conquer far into the future. He wondered how difficult the war against the Ancients (if he found a dimension where they were still physical beings,) would be.

Its armor was reinforced with various metals, from the few dimensions he currently ruled over. It still had Star Trek's version of Replicators on it, and three ZPM's. At least though, the ship didn't use a Slipstream Drive. But that was one small favor, and not an important one.

Worse was that Earth had launched the Russian 304 earlier than in the series. He guessed that, because of him, the Tau'ri was being more militarized in case he decided to invade them (though it would not be for another three years, 2009.) While it was no threat to him, it dramatically changed how things would go. Would the _Apollo _be rushed into service, or already be completed, by the time the Ori took over Chulak, would the _Sun Tzu_?

No, things had changed for the worse.

The _Korolev _retreated into Hyperspace at long last, followed by the _Odyssey _a short time later. Both ships were heavily damaged like the _Daedalus _which had retreated earlier. He was surprised that they hadn't been destroyed by the sheer number of plasma weapons and drones that had thrown at them. Perhaps he was underestimating the endurance of the Tau'ri?

Bah.

Of course he wasn't.

Then he frowned. "Where is the _Prometheus_," he muttered. Where was the famous Tau'ri ship? He saw Picard continue to terrorize his fleet, damaging a Basestar, but not destroying it.

He was glad to see that the _Enterprise _was suffering damage as well, though not as much as he would have hoped. Its shields were obviously failing, and the hull was blackened while in others it was a furious red-black. However the ship was doing short Hyperspace jumps, jumping from one area to another, getting close to ships so they couldn't fire, and retreating when it was targeted to another ship in another part of the fleet.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't fire on the _Enterprise_. Despite the training his great warriors had, they were clustering around the Federation ship. If he fired, if even used his drones, he would destroy his own ships. "Though my proud warriors seemed to destroy their own brethren…"

Fools. He would have to inspect his defensive forces.

~_Divine One! ~_

The Hierarch responded to the communication from the Capital of Primo Solis. "What is it?"

~_A Tau'ri vessel has landed two dozen armored soldiers on the ground, and have engaged security forces in the city. We believe they are--_ ~ The communication was interrupted by a flurry of gun shots, and the whine of plasma. But the Hierarch understood the gist of it.

"They desire their SG-Teams and the Jaffa back," he muttered. Fine. He had not use for them anymore. He planned on using them as a trade with the Asgard, threatening their lives for the knowledge of the Asgard. It was a futile gesture of course, the Asgard would never give him the knowledge (and they still didn't know he existed,) but there was the chance. Even if he failed, he would have returned them back to Tau'ri, since he wouldn't need them.

He never expected the Tau'ri to launch so brave a assault such as this.

They surprised him.

He beamed the SG-Teams the Jaffa to where the interrupted communication had been, and awaited. Sure enough, he saw a small blimp in the distant fly up from his world, and enter Hyperspace. Seconds later, the _Enterprise _entered Hyperspace, but not before damaging a Battlecruiser.

"Your time will come, Picard," he said angrily.


	21. Chapter 21

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews: Man, does everyone want to see the Covenant get pummeled? **

**Just a Crazy-Man: **Wisky, thanks!

**The Hidden Sith: **Sorry to say, and I really am, the Tau'ri aren't more powerful than the Covenant. They had Picard to help them, and they caught the Covenant off guard, a one time deal. The Tau'ri will never be able to Repel the Covenant-they might sting the Covenant, but it'll be more of a annoyance in the end.

**DR LOVE: **Yeah… the Covenant did… Poor Covenant…

**Soulless Reader: **Oh, don't doubt that the Covenant isn't a Super Powerful Empire-it currently controls four galaxies, and is beginning to spread further out. The Tau'ri (and Picard,) got lucky. They're going to exist for a while, but they're time as a free world is short. Funny enough, Picard was supposed to be killed off when he captured, but I let him live.

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**.**

**.**

"_The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people so you shall purge the evil from your midst._

**Deuteronomy 17:7**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

"HAIL PEOPLE OF THE COVENANT!"

The Hierarch spread his hands to his sides, his cape/cloak flapping behind him as he addressed the entire Covenant on Son Day. He also spoke to the billions of newly converted in the Star Trek Galaxy, the Federation, few remaining hundred Vulcans, Romulans and Klingons, and others.

He spoke to the worlds in the tamed Halo and BSG-Galaxy Dimensions. Hundreds of worlds in those dimensions were already colonized, and all were loyal to him. He spoke to the yet-to-be-converted Terminator-Milky Way Galaxy-Dimension, speaking to the Priors and warriors, and the few colonists there.

While the conquest was slow there, thanks to the existence of the Replicators and the sudden (and unexpected) arrival of an Extragalactic race known only as the 'Dishiva' (which did not occur in the prime SG-Universe,) it was assured victory. Already Ba'al, Nirrti, and Kali, three very powerful System Lord's, were dead and the Asgard had begun to collapse, their few worlds falling to Salvation. The handful of Asgard there were scattered to the stellar winds.

He smirked.

His forces were encountering some issues with the Asgard and the Replicators, but he had already sent more ships to deal with them. There were Eighteen Assault Carriers, seven Basestars, twenty eight Ha'tak's, nine Destroyers, and four Battlecruisers, not including four hundred eight two million divine soldiers, combating the forces of Evil in the Terminator-Dimension. The Asgard was more powerful there than they were here. They were using Plasma Beam Weapons by 2003, and had created more powerful ship forms.

Unlike his conquest of the Star Trek Dimension, and soon the Star Wars Dimension, he didn't consider these wars Crusades. He considered them 'skirmishes,' wars that he was finishing off. Once the Initial Dimensions were conquered, he would spread off from them as well.

Hopefully, if things went according to plan, he would have four galaxies under his complete control by the end of the year. The number paled to what he planned to have…

But it was a start.

However, all that mattered was the weekly speech.

"In the few short years that the Covenant has arisen to lead the people into glory and salvation, to ascend upon the path we all dearly desire," he roared, "we have done many great deeds. The heretics that was this United Federation of Planets, that was the Dominion and the Borg, they and more have fallen and accepted the gracious love that only the Father, the Lord, can give.

"Even as I speak, the Second Crusade shall soon begin.

"Already, Priors have been sent to a dimension where the disillusioned use powers gifted by the Lord. Yet they have gone astray on their path and have split between purity and spite. It is the duty of the Covenant to unite purity and spite, love and hate, stagnation and advancement, and bring forth power, power to ascend on the Great Journey! Great fleets of a Crusade Fleet have been marshaled together, and soon, in a year or two's time, we will begin a Second Crusade!"

He was bathed by the cries of the people.

"**And said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven**," the Hierarch went on as his image was loved by the Covenant, "Matthew 18:3. We will bring the Chosen and the new born into the Covenant, and teach them error of their ways. Our Covenant will stand the era's that will pass and we will emerge, when the Final Crusade is completed, at the side and feet of the FATHER!

"We will emerge as the dominator power, in the grave of the Lord, under my rule and my guidance; we will ascend to the Path! Those who resist what is meant for them all, for all of us, will suffer damnation! Soon, the beings that follow False Gods, the Ori, will emerge with great ships in which they will dare to challenge us. And what shall be our response?"

Across the Covenant, even amongst the newly converted beings, the response was all the same.

A single word:

"**CLEANSING!"**

Excellent.

He raised his hands in front of him, and spread them a bit apart. Holograms appeared before him, of a oblique-oval shaped ship. Though no one knew what it was, he knew what it was.

An Ori Mothership.

"This is the face of the enemy we will soon face," he roared, "the ships of those who had clearly embrace evil! It is our destiny to destroy them, and purge life of these heretics, these infidels!"

He made two fists, and raised them high, his eyes flaring as the image vanished in a burst of light.

"THIS, I ASSURE YOU!"

He brought his hands down and covered his armored body with his black cloak. In front of him, the image on the unprovoked, and devastating (as well as insulting) assault on Primo Solis appeared. He felt the disgust and horror (as well as some hope which emanating from a number of citizens of the Star Trek-Milky Way,) as the allied fleet destroyed his small Task Force.

He watched in anger as the sleek and modified design of the Sovereign-class Starship shot down a Destroyer. He had personally 'burned' the surviving Shipmasters from the attack. He could not, and would not, tolerate such insults, and would not tolerate such failure.

"The heretic Picard has aligned himself with the Tau'ri and the Jaffa, and because of this they are now forever tainted by evil. It is our duty as the Covenant, as the people of Salvation, to destroy them. And in due time, we shall purge them, and eliminate them from the face of this world. Yet the Lord has deemed that the time has not come for their elimination, for they will serve the Covenant in ways that the Father is keeping to himself."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"ALL HAIL THE COVENANT!"

With that, he finished.

Stepping off the holographic podium, he returned to his gravity seat, and looked out to open space. He grimaced at the speech he had just given, the worst speech he had ever said. He hadn't felt any the words, felt the emotions that the speech needed, and to him, it sounded flat and uncaring. He felt disgusted with it, but what was done was done.

He sighed.

He had a foreboding feeling…. A feeling he had ever since his 'vision' a week ago, of his Sangheili calling him a 'Pretender.' Was that of the future, or a possibility, or was it his imagination? He was deeply disturbed, being that, only behind the Cavil models, the Sangheili were his most devout followers. He remembered what had happened in the Halo Universe, the most well know dimension. The Sangheili Rebellion had shattered the Covenant.

Here…

It would be more destructive.

He shook his head. He would NOT allow the Sangheili to revolt. If it happened, then his Covenant was over. '_Then again, I can simply take the old mirror, destroy the Inter-Dimensional Drives, and restart the Covenant in another dimension… though that would be difficult. The Covenant is too far spread, and it would be decades, possibly more, to destroy the Covenant, and restart it anew._'

He sighed and looked outside.

A lance of plasma shot out from the _Lucifer _and smashed on the golden shields of a Ha'tak, decimating the ship as it speared the pyramid. The combined forces of several of Ba'al renegade Underlings (whose names he didn't bother learning,) bombarded his flagship.

"When will these children of snakes learn…?"

The fifty four Ha'tak's were picked off one by one, not realizing that the Hierarch was toying with them. With the near hundred plasma batteries and drone launchers on his Flagship, he could have annihilated these ships in a few seconds. But Reed wanted to enjoy himself this once.

After several long and enjoyable minutes of watching the Ha'tak's hopelessly attack his ship, the Hierarch took over. However, rather than destroy the remaining twenty eight Ha'tak's, he found a better use for them. He had two Cohort's onboard the _Lucifer_, 10 000 soldiers per Cohort. These were pure Cylon Cohorts as well, the improved Centurions.

He targeted the Ha'tak's and then easily-not even easily, without even trying-and beamed the 20 000 Centurions to each of the Ha'tak's. He smiled and focused on the Second Crusade.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

_Wisp-BAM!_

"Uh!"

The First Prime Grazak felt the utmost horror as two of the mechanical beings continued their rampage in the golden hall's of the Ha'tak. The three Jaffa who had been firing at the machines were dead. The machines had lunged, grabbed their heads and squeezed.

Grazak had never thing anything so horrible in his long life.

He and the other Jaffa had been forced to find a more defensible area, a chokehold to the Pelta'c. Several Jaffa crouched behind an overturned table with him in one of the many dining halls as a mechanical warrior entered, its single red eye pulsing back and forth.

"Kree, Jaffa," one of his brothers roared.

In a flash, the being turned his head towards the Jaffa and Grazak could almost swear that the eye had paused for a moment.

'_Now_,' he thought.

Rising from behind the table, they fired off bursts of golden bolts from the tips of their Staff Weapons. He watched as they all scored immediate hits, energy splashing over the chest of the silver-hued monstrosity. His eyes widened, however, as green splotches appeared whenever the bolts made contact.

"In the name of D-"

Before he finished, armor plating on the shoulder of the Centurion lifted up, and four tubes rose out, and rotated. "Brother Jaffa, fall back," Grazak roared, ashamed of his words though he wasn't ready to die yet, dropping his staff weapon. He turned and, to his shame, ran out of the back entrance.

Four of his brothers followed him.

Not even flinching from the bolts impacting harmlessly on its shields, the Cylon Centurion fired two missiles from its shoulder launcher, and then turned and left the room.

Behind it, plumes of fire emerged, roaring as the entire room was scorched black, and not a single scrap of flesh existed there. Grazak ran through the halls of the Ha'tak, hearing the sounds of cries and shouts and hiss of Staff bolts.

He heard the steady _clank-clank _of the metal monster's and the booming as they walked in the Godly vessel. He heard explosions and the roar of rapid-firing weapons, and the whines of a sort of energy weapon. '

_To the Pel'tac,_' he thought, '_we fortify ourselves there and, if our God is there, we can protect him from these horrible beings._'

Things had gone wrong so quickly.

Just four minutes ago, thousands of the humanoid machines of death had appeared all over their ship. No place was safe from the monsters, they were unholy demons that destroyed all that stood in the path. As soon as he entered the Pel'tac, he found thirty other Jaffa there, just starting a barricade. "Kree, Master Grazak," a young Jaffa said, his eyes wide with fear.

"Where is our God?" Grazak demanded.

"**Here, my First Prime,**" their God, a former Underling of the God Ba'al, declared, "**Did you think your God dead?**"

Grazak bowed. "No, my Lord!"

Behind him, the terrible _clank-clank- clank-clank- clank-clank_ became louder, and on the face of his God, Grazak saw fear became apparent. But Gods did not fear death, did they? "**Defend your God,**" roared, "**Barricade the Pel'tac, and fight to the death, my Jaffa!**"

"For our God," Grazak roared.

"For our God," came the reply.

The bare Pel'tac offered little to make a barricade, but they managed to create a small 'wall' in front of the entrance. Hiding behind it, the Jaffa leveled their Staff Weapons and waited.

Grazak frowned as heard the heavy booms of the machines footsteps echo ever louder, but did not see them. Where…

All of a sudden one of the machines turned the corner, and raised its arm. A stream of projectiles burst out from its wrist. The bullets smashed on the barricade, and the barricade held for a while. But the explosive shells tore the barricade apart, and killed several Jaffa. Two others were wounded. Grazak coughed and waved away dust, grabbing his Staff.

"**DEFEND YOUR GOD!**" His God shouted.

"Kree, Jaffa!"

Grazak squinted as he saw the hulking form of the being enter the Pel'tac shrugging off the staff bolts. A Jaffa ran towards the machine, its single red eye pulsing, intending to smash the butt of his weapon on the machines head. However, the machine grabbed the Jaffa's head and twisted.

Then the machine turned towards Grazak, and Grazak fired off an uneven stream of bolts as the machine walked forward. As the machine grabbed the Jaffa's head, Grazak saw a small child grinning in a corner of the Pel'tac.

What was a child doing here?

Suddenly he saw visions…

And felt… a life that could have been greater than now…

Serving a True God…

…

…

His mouth not moving, Grazak heard the child's voice in his head.

**.**

'_You could have served the God-Emperor…_'


	22. Chapter 22

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews: **

**CC: Yes, go Enterprise! While it's still around…. Heh-heh….**

**Anderfail: Sorry, but the CE won't go to any of them… but perhaps the GI would… that's very interesting….**

**DD: Here you go! **

**Soulless Reader: That was the feeling I was going for. Thanks for the support. That's the purpose of the Covenant-for the Hierarch to gain new technologies, to gain more power, to create an Empire that will last for all eternity!**

**Swimmerdude200: Glad that you loved it!  
**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**.**

**.**

"_For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." _

**Revelation 12:12**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

The Hierarch waited no longer.

With an escort of four Horus Guard's, two in front of him and two trailing him, the Hierarch stepped onto a podium. The podium rose into the air, repelling gravity as it rose higher and higher. Reed smiled coldly behind his helmet as the podium slowed down and stopped.

He stepped forward, his Guard's moving to his rear.

He split his cloak and raised his hands to his side, and gazed upon the billions of citizens in the Holy City _Mecca_. The enormous City-Ship, a copy of Halo's _High Charity_, orbited _Sanctus Universitas_, Divine World. Floating recorders and camera's floated from angles, taking pictures of him as well as videos. His beloved people became silent as they waited for his words.

"People of the Covenant," he roared.

…

…

…

He paused for a dramatic effect.

…

…

…

"The SECOND CRUSADE is at HAND!"

At once, as if on cue, the people broke to a multi-species of roars and cheers and claps and stamping, cheering for their second challenge. The Hierarch swam in the shouts, and enjoyed it.

'_The people, my people, will find more faith with each Crusade, each war,_' he thought with relish, '_We will find more people to convert, more beings to use, spread the influence of my Empire beyond the stars, beyond galaxies and beyond dimensions, for all is mine._'

He lowered his hands.

The crowd became silent once more.

In front of him, above him, the hologram of the Conquest of Star Trek-Earth appeared, showing the fifty warships that dominate the near eight hundred ships that the United Federation had scrounged up. He sneered mentally at the pitiful fleet, of a star nation that was doomed from the start. Victory in that dimension was assured, for it was inevitable.

He watched as the Hallowed Admiral commences a limited bombardment of the surface of the Federation's Earth, and watched as he commenced the same thing on their lunar colonies.

'_They have paid dearly for their refusal,_' he thought.

All as it supposed to be.

Clearing his throat, he went on: "Our Great and Divine Crusade against the demons and blasphemers who believed in false Gods and ideals, who refused the embracing love of the Covenant, and for that they have fallen! The 'great 'powers that existed there have submitted to our Covenant. The Federation, the Klingon's, Romulan's, Borg, Dominion and more are no more. They have been… 'Assimilated' into the Covenant and now they share our love of God, and work for the betterment of our great and Divine Covenant!

He paused for a moment as the image changed, and showed the rapid reconstruction of Earth. "The people who now embrace us no longer pay for the mistakes that their errant brothers and sisters committed. The worlds that suffered from our cleansings are now recovering, and we will rebuild this galaxy to a greater glory than ever before, and we will shower it with our grace!

"Despite the attack the Heretic Picard has committed against us," he went on to say, "and the losses we have suffered, we will emerge more powerful than ever before, and we shall.

"Now the time for a Second Crusade has come."

The image of Earth vanished, and showed a rapidly changing image of battles, from titanic triangle-shaped warships and wedge-shaped warships, firing off hundreds of bolts of green and red and blue energy bolts. Hundreds of fighters flew back and forth, explosions rippling between and on ships.

Once more, the image was replaced with images of an immense ground battle, with white-armored soldiers fighting against an endless number of fragile and crude-looking machines.

Enormous machines fired off bolts of death from large guns on their back, and humans wielding glowing blades fought in an intricate dance. It was amazing to behold as the images vanished.

"This is what we shall face, and it is what _I _will bring into. Our Priors have converted many worlds on the Outer Rim of this Galaxy, yet we have met unbelievers who fail to realize that by embracing God, they will reach a state of ascension in which we will finally meet the All Father!"

He slammed his fists on the podium, and the echo rang in the interior of the immense City Ship.

"We shall bring forth fury of the Lord upon them if they fail to love the Lord, for it is their destiny as the Chosen Ones! We, the Covenant, will not stand by and watch as Chosen Races are enveloped by Evil and Heresy, by treachery and lies, by hate and despair and lies!"

"**WE WILL NOT!**"

An appropriate reply.

"Covenant," he roared on, "This Crusade I shall lead myself, for in it, I can see that within this place, one being has been Chosen by my Father above all other beings, a Knight in Darkness!" He caught the attention of the entire Covenant, everyone in the galaxies it held within its grasp. "This Knight shall join us soon, for it his fate, and it is inevitable!"

**.**

**.**

The Hierarch smile as he took his seat on his flagship, and prepared himself for the jump into the Star Wars Galaxy. He had found another Star Wars galaxy, one that he preferred above the others he had found. Here, the Republic was more stable that the more well known version, but based on what he had seen (which was little,) he saw that the Republic would most likely turn into an Empire. It was set during the Phantom Menace, so Skywalker would still be a child, and the Jedi were still (at least for the time period,) at their prime.

He smirked.

Not for long, however.

_Beep!_

_Beep!_

_Beep!_

Reed frowned as he received a message from his naval shipyard, one the eight that were just recently refurbished in the Star Trek Dimension. The original shipyards for the Federation, Klingon's and others were worthy enough (nor were they capable of,) building the enormous Covenant warships. Despite the fact that he was in an entirely different dimension, and half way across the galaxy as well, he could hear the other person just fine.

"You desire to speak with your Lord," he said.

"Holy One."

The Hierarch waited. "What do you feel is so important that you felt it necessary to speak with me?"

There was a pause.

"Something… has happened, Divine One…"

"What?"

There was hesitation. "As you know, Holy One, the efforts on modifying the captured vessels of this galaxy are going well. The primitive weaponry and shields are being replaced with our superior defenses and offensive technologies." '_Yes, I do know of all this,_' he thought impatiently.

…

…

"Divine One… one of the Sovereign-class Starships has gone… missing."

He froze at that.

_Missing_?

"How could a starship go missing," he demanded furiously.

On the other side, the Vulcan speaking to him cringed. He was one of the few hundred thousand survivors from his destroyed Homeworld. "We do not know how, Holy Hierarch, but it did. I personally saw it vanish. One moment it was there, and the next it just… wasn't."

The Hierarch snarled.

"Fools," he roared, "how can you lose a single starship?"

However…

He froze when he saw the shadowy shape of a child in a corner in front of him, a strangely visible grin on its face. "What…"

As he blinked, the shape vanished.

"Holy One?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Stepping unto the desert world of Tatooine, the Sith Lord, and the Apprentice Darth Maul felt a sudden weight descend upon his robed shoulders, as if suddenly the mass of whole galaxies had been dropped on him. He stopped in his tracks a few feet from his speeder, and felt uneasy, and looked around, trying to identify the feeling of heaviness and where it came from. He stumbled a few steps forward, and reached out with the Dark Side of the Force.

He grimaced and felt shadow obscure his vision. His Master had sent him here because he had felt a disturbance in the Force, a hole where nothing seemed to come from, where there should be no hole. Where as it coming from? It took only a moment for his yellow eyes to spot the source of this terrible and empty feeling… this heaviness that plagued him.

He saw a gaunt man, with pale skin and eyes that appeared covered in cataracts, though he seemed to be able to see clearly enough, moving toward her. He walked with a book in his hand and an ornate staff in his hand. The staff had a top that glowed a brilliant silver hue, and the air around him seemed to deaden as he moved. Though he moved slowly through the burning heat of Tatooine, he seemed unaffected. To his surprise, the sand around the man seemed to turn into glass with each step the robed figure took.

With the teachings of the Dark Side etched into his mind and skin, lessons from the most powerful Sith Lord, his Master, he knew when to recognize a disturbance in the Force; but his training was not sufficient to explain the feeling of dread and fear that struck him so forcefully.

The gaunt figure reached the center of the largest intersection and simply began to speak.

"Hear me, Lord Maul of the Sith Order," he said. His voice boomed through the rolling hills of sand and dust with such force it seemed impossible not to pay attention, and it was. It was the same voice his Master used when he manipulated worlds to do his bidding, which he rarely had to do anymore. The Dark Lord then realized that he had stopped breathing at the sound of the voice, and had to force herself, use her will, to breathe again.

'_Who was this being,_' the Sith Lord thought. And how dare he make a Sith Lord of his caliber feel so… weak.

"I bring great news from beyond the Outer Rim," the man said. "Salvation has been found, and the path to enlightenment and ascension can be yours. For too long have you all traversed in the darkness; now I have come to show you the cleansing light and the warm embrace of the Covenant, of God, and the Hierarch. Rejoice for now the Covenant is coming, and the saving of your souls from eternal darkness is at hand, rejoice!

Light flared even more then, and the Sith Lord reacted quickly, and drew his double-bladed lightsaber. Two red blades ignited on opposite sides, and the Sith Lord lunged forward, swinging the double-blades in a graceful arc. In deadly arcs, the blade slashed at the man.

An instant kill.

Certain Victory.

A….

Failure?

To the Sith Lord's surprise, the man raised his hand, and the blade stopped just a mere inch from his face. Without skipping a beat, the Dark Lord called upon the terrible fury of the Dark Side, and slammed the weight upon the man. Yet as he did so, the weight on his shoulders grew, and Dark Lord held back a grimace of pain. "Resist Salvation and you are doomed," the man said coldly.

'_Die!_' Maul thought furiously.

With a gentle push, the Sith Lord was flung backwards, and landed in the sand, his lightsaber stabbing a nearby mound of sand. Darth Maul coughed, and glared with his yellow eyes at the man. "Who… Who are you," he rasped, glaring daggers at the being of great power.

The man gazed back.

"I am a Prior."

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

The NX-09 _Avenger _rushed through space, passing orbit over a Gas Giant in the Tau Ceti System. The damaged Imperial warship desperately tried to flee, its grayish hull scraping the shattered remains of the NX-06 _Colombia _and the NX-02 _Lancelot_. The yellow marks on its sides were badly charred, and it sported a gaping hole on its portside. It fired off a single burst from its Particle Weapon at a Tellarite Cruiser. The Xeno ship avoided the hit, and fired its own weapon, shearing off a piece of the _Avenger's _armor.

A Vulcan D'Kyr Cruiser and three Kumari-class Andorian Cruisers trailed the _Avenger_, following the Tellarite warship as they attacked the sole survivor. Of the five NX-class warships that had attempted to quell the Rebellion, the _I.S.S. Avenger _was all that remained.

Admiral Black cursed as he checked on his Terran communications officer, only to find a piece of metal sticking out of his forehead. "Damn it," he muttered as sparks flew from a circuit above, the ship shaking as the reverse-engineered Vulcan Deflector shields strained against the combined fire of the Rebel Fleet.

He wondered how things could have gone so wrong for the Empire.

When the Assault Fleet arrived in the system, a site of an earlier defeat, they were all confident of victory. The _Avenger, Colombia, Lancelot, Dauntless_ and _Khan's Wrath _had been upgraded with Deflector Technology and improved Vulcan Particle Weaponry, which should have given them a edge over the Rebel's. The ships that were attacking him now, were the same ships that they had encountered before. He stumbled out of his seat, coughing.

The _Dauntless _had been the first to go, caught off guard by the combined fire of the Rebel Fleet. It hadn't managed to raise its shields when it was destroyed. Despite their right as Masters of the Sub-Human Races, it seemed as if the Empire was falling from the Sub-Human races it had conquered.

He coughed again and looked around the bridge.

"Report!"

His sole Vulcan crewmember, Soval, looked worried as he read from his console. Black trusted Soval with his life. The Vulcan was one the few in the Terran Empire who held a position on a ship, as many had joined the Rebels'. Like most of the male Vulcans who remained part of the Empire, Soval had grown a goatee. He grimaced as he read from the science console, "Hull breach on B deck. Emergency Bulkheads are engaged, but they will not do much good."

"Concentrate your fire on the Andorian Cruiser," Black spat. "Turn the _Avenger _around and fire!"

"Our Deflector's have failed, Hull plating's at 32%."

'_I will not lose to a race of Sub-Humans,_' Black thought fiercely as he manned the Weapons station himself (his Weapons Officer lying dead next to him,) and fired off a ever steady stream of bolts from the rear Phase Cannon, and taking pot-shots with the Particle Weapon.

"Admiral, there's another vessel approaching."

Black paled but squashed his fear. He was to die here and now, well then he would die fighting for the Empire. "More Rebels?"

He saw Soval pause as he read the data, his eyes widen. He looked up to Black, and with a tone of confusion and awe, said, "No."

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the Federation-Covenant Starship **_**Defiance**_

**Exiting Alternate Faster-Than-light Realm (Hyperspace)**

**.**

**.**

Swooping above the D'Kyr Cruiser, a sleek ship dominated the system. Nearly several hundred meters in length, the ship consisted of two hull sections: a saucer-shaped primary hull and a secondary hull on which were mounted two Warp Nacelles. However, the Nacelles glowed an unfamiliar yellow, pushing the ship through space. Between the Nacelles, a single drive protruded from the ship a few meters out, as if attached to the ship after it was built.

Onboard the powerful starship _Defiance_, the Terran Captain Archer smirked as he sat in the Captain's Chair, and set his gaze on the Andorian warships. "Sergeant Mayweather, open fire with our… Plasma Beam Weapons."

"Yes, Captain."

On the primary saucer-shape of the starship, a lance of super-heated plasma shot out, slicing through the Deflector's on the nearest Andorian Warship as if it wasn't even there, and burned away the hull of the warship. Within seconds, the beam cut through the soft armor of the warship, and destroyed the Xeno ship. A second beam shot out, destroying the other Andorian vessel.

"Direct hits," Travis said coldly.

"The Tellarite ship's opened fire. No damage."

The Tellarites Particle Weapons slashed harmlessly on the shields of the starship, and the shield absorbed the energy it was being hit with. "Lock on their reactor," Archer ordered, "Fire when ready."

'_This is too easy…_' he thought, grinning.

"Launching Drone's," Mayweather announced.

A pair of glowing balls shot out from the launcher on the back of the _Defiance_, moving in almost sentient way. The Drone's sped with an unheard of speed, and smashed into the Tellarites reactor, tearing through it and returning in a curve, and returning back as it made another pass at the Cruiser. The ship exploded in a brilliant flash of fire as the Drones exploded.

"A bit too much, don't you think Captain," Hoshi purred.

'_Nothing is too much when dealing with Rebel's,_' Archer thought darkly.

"The Vulcan Ship's trying to escape," Hoshi said, glancing at T'Pol.

Archer smiled. "Pursuit course."

T'Pol stood up from their station, protesting. "Captain, please, they're no threat to us. I recommend that we-"

"Fire when ready."

Two lances of plasma shot out from saucer of the starship, spearing the Vulcan warship, and destroying in completely. Archer grinned as the _Avenger _made a turn to face the _Defiance_. He could imagine what the Grand Admiral was thinking, and felt superiority from what he had done. "The last Andorian warship is retreating," Hoshi warned.

"Weapons are locked."

"No," Archer said suddenly, to the surprise of his crew, "Let them go. I want the other rebels to know what happened here. Get me Admiral Black."

An audible _beep _was heard and a circle at the front of the bridge glowed, and an image of the badly damaged bridge of the _Avenger _appeared in front of them. Archer was surprised-that was new. The image was so clear… a perfect image. He stood up as Black looked at him, shocked.

"Archer?" He said indecorously.

Archer smiled as he spread his arms. "Sorry we're late for the party, Admiral."

Black walked to the front of the bridge, looked at the sleek and unfamiliar design of the bridge, and the ship itself. "Where the hell is the _Enterprise_? Is Captain Forrest with you?"

Archer smirked.

""It's going to take some time to explain, sir. Perhaps you'd like to see the Sovereign-class Starship _Defiance _for yourself.


	23. Chapter 23

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews:**

**The Hidden Sith: I was hoping people would love the Terran Empire part. It play's a big part in the expansion of the Holy Empire. The Child is the all powerful and mighty Void Keeper. **

**Soulless Reader: He is supposed to creep you out… Glad you liked Darth Mail vs. the Prior, but the real engagement is now far off. Because it's the Terran Empire, racism is a part of daily life. And yes, the Defiance is the ship that disappeared from the Covenant. **

**DR Sweetz: We have a winner! Yes, the child is the Void Keeper. **

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**.**

**.**

"_But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,_

_And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber;_

_So they also will come to destruction."_

**Numbers 24:24**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

_**Emptiness…**_

_**That was the Dominion of the Void Keeper. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**To him, everything was meaningless. **_

_**To him, only he had a purpose-a purpose that didn't exist.**_

_**To him, space and time were illusions.**_

_**To him, the universe was a sandbox.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**Everything was nothing compared to him.**_

_**Walking on the surface of a star that for some reason seemed too small for the small child-like figure he adopted, he thought about an old game. The omnipotent Q Continuum matched against the Ascended Ancients. It had been an interesting fight, though it had been boring at first. Neither Q nor Ancient would fight, being all curious and ignorant of each other. All he had to do, however, was want them to fight, and they did.**_

_**Entire galaxies had been wiped out in the Great War, and the stars and planet themselves were used as weapons. But even then, after one hundred years of war and endless battle, he ended it. **_

_***Snap***_

_**He restored the Universe and erased all memories of the war. **_

_**He blinked and vanished. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

'_**Just a rock,' he said aloud to himself, his voice ringing in the multi-verse as he held a galaxy in his hands. He looked at it and reformed the galaxy, creating a multitude of beasts and shapes. After century of time passed, a few minutes for the Void Keeper, he destroyed the galaxy and looked over his games. He loved games-especially when they surprised him. **_

_**He appeared in the middle of space, and looked around. Enormous starships multi-kilometers in length, millions of fighters, destroyed each other and the world that they orbited. **_

_**They were titans in the eyes of their makers, but to him, they weren't worthy of notice. To him, a star was nothing more than the size of a pebble, and these ships were smaller than a star. **_

'_**Next,' he said, and the ships melted away, turning into a floating grey goop in the middle of space. **_

_**A Fighter as large as his child-form, star-shaped with two cylinders sticking out of its sides, fired off two bolts of lasers before it melted away. The Void Keeper grabbed the two lasers and looked at them. **_

_**He twisted them together and created a Ship of Light. **_

_**He was bored.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**Boredom was common to the Void Keeper. **_

_**His power knew no limits, for he was power. He had created Universes time and time again. **_

_**He could erase a Universe, and create a new one to replace it. He had gone against entire armies of beings who were as powerful as Q and swatted them away without any effort. **_

_**He was a God to many dozens of galaxies, and the devastator to dozens of others, others who had seen stars turned into unnatural shapes. **_

_**For all his power, he had no challenge.**_

_**No one to meet.**_

_**No equal.**_

_**And there would never be one. **_

_**Never.**_

_**Thus he grew bored. **_

_**That was a constant. **_

_**His only constant.**_

_**His only companion. **_

_**He saw everything, everything and everyone at once, a myriad of lives and deaths and births all at once. He felt every emotion, every feeling, saw from every eye and heard every thought. He made men and woman go bad, he played games with mind and sight, and then left. **_

'_**I am Void Keeper,' he announced, his form changing to that of a man. His eyes glowed and then dimmed. **_

_**Yes…**_

_**He was Void Keeper. **_

_**No one commanded him, no one lorded over him.**_

_**He existed before existence...**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**He had two new games now… **_

_**Two of many…**_

…

…

…

_**The Galactic Imperium…**_

_**The Covenant Empire…**_

_**His newest games… ones that always surprised him…**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**He loved surprises.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**He blinked and appeared in the center of the galaxy, the Star Wars Galaxy, and entered every man and woman and child and alien's body and mind. He looked through their eyes, and saw thousands on thirty different worlds at the edge of the galaxy looking upon the face of the Covenant's Priors. **_

_**He was impressed with how fast the Covenant was spreading, though only a bit. Of the few Covenant's that rose to power, most did not spread past 20 galaxies. If things went as far as he saw it, it would span more than 20 galaxies in two centuries, perhaps less. **_

_**Meanwhile in the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy, he saw the Hierarch's fleet begin their assault on this galaxy. They were decimating the Chiss Ascendency, wiping out the blue-skinned aliens. They had already burned the Outbound Flight, and had repelled the initial Yuuzhan Vong Scouting Force. They had already converted fifty eight worlds on the edge o the galaxy, and he had yet to lose any ships to the greatly inferior Chiss. **_

'_**Too easy…' the great being thought. **_

_**He grinned. **_

'_**Far too easy…'**_

_**He couldn't allow the game to go like this. He grabbed the Covenant Fleet, a force of a mere 400 ships, (which was, according to the Covenant's amusing Fleet organization, was 100 ships less than a Combined Fleet,) and created an exact replica of the Star Wars galaxy and its surrounding Universe, and dropped the Covenant Fleet at the edge of the copied galaxy. **_

_**Now…**_

'_**Who would make the perfect opponents,' he thought, even though he knew the many different paths that could be taken. The new galaxy was three times as large as before, in order to bear three galaxy-spanning powers. Surrounding the center and emerging to a third of the galaxy was the Sith Empire of the Dark Lord Revan at his height. **_

_**Dominating another third of the galaxy, where the planet Coruscant was, was the Galactic Empire of Palpatine. This Empire he had taken from a reality where the Empire won at Yavin, and was engaged in a bitter with the Yuuzhan Vong. He had, of course, brought their Death Star's in, but not their other Super Weapons such as their Galaxy Gun and Sun Crusher.**_

_**That wouldn't be fun at all. **_

_**Not at all.**_

…

_**Occupying the final third of the galaxy was the most powerful entity of the Empire's, the Second Galactic Empire of the One Sith one hundred years into the future. He had also chosen them from an alternate reality, the few where the Second Empire actually didn't fall into disarray. **_

_**He grinned.**_

_**That would most certainly provide the Covenant with a challenge. A mere 400 or so of their most powerful ships against the millions of starships each Empire controlled, as well their own special gifts? 'And his Covenant is about to against the Ori… but not the same ones he expected…'**_

_**His grin became wider.**_

_**Fun.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

Something was wrong…

Terribly wrong.

He could feel it.

He knew it.

He…

He _saw _it.

"Where is the Chiss Fleet?" He muttered, looking out of the large view screen. Just moments before, he had been fighting a Chiss Fleet, eighty four ships not including their fighters. He had been destroying them, his drones and plasma weapons tearing through their defenses with ease.

Now…

They were gone.

The _Lucifer _floated above a lifeless world, a Gas Giant. Around it was supposed to be the hulks of thirty or so Chiss Cruisers, yet there was nothing… and even stranger than that was that everything seemed to be more… distant. He frowned as his sensors told him that the distance between everything, from the planet to the star to the edge of the star system all the way to the nearest star, had doubled.

Suddenly he felt the bridge freeze. He rose from his seat and stepped down, his cloak _swishing _behind him. He turned around and saw a Prior standing behind him, with an ornate staff in his hand and a bible in the other. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the ever-changing faces on the Prior and growled, "_You_!"

The Keeper of the Void smiled deviously. '**Yes, I am back. How is everything going so far? Don't tell-I already know. How do I know?'** The Keeper gave an innocent smile-yet it chilled the Hierarch's spine. **'I watched as you decimated the poor Chiss… did you know you killed Thrawn?'**

The Hierarch cocked his head.

"I killed Thrawn?"

The Prior nodded absentmindedly as his appearance changed.

Change; however… wasn't an appropriate world. The Prior's robe melded and melted, and was replaced by the spotless white uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral. **'He was the leader of the first wave of Chiss Fleets that attacked you. He was, in fact, on the first Chiss Ship that you destroyed.'**

"Ahh…"

In a single fluid movement, a blowing blade shot out from his wrist armor, razor thin and made of Trinium-Naquadah-Carbon composite with Neutronium mixed into it, and sliced into the white uniform. But the Keeper of the Void didn't even flinch, and he looked down at the blade with a bored expression. **'For someone who declares himself to be the son of an 'Omnipotent' and 'all-power' being, you really don't learn, do you Reed?'**

The Hierarch, Reed, screamed and staggered back, withdrawing his blade as he felt an inexcusable amount of pain coursing though his body. **'How does it feel to have your flesh slowly decompose,' **the Keeper of the Void joyfully, the blood splatter on his uniform seeping back into his body. **'Does it hurt? Don't scream like that, Q didn't scream for two seconds,' **he taunted.

He looked up then.

'**You are enjoying this aren't you,' **he said, talking to… no one? He grinned and walked in a circle around the Hierarch.** 'Torturing someone who bears the same name as you…' **he shook his head in amusement and….. '**Very difficult isn't it, yes…. Very difficult when you can't control someone who is far superior to you, who existed before existence?**'

The Hierarch managed to claw at the man's black boots. "Who… are you…"

'**Your creator,' **he said.

His grin became wider.

'**And I am not the twisted 'keeper of the Void' as you call me…. No… I am the Void Keeper!'**

He snapped his fingers and the torture ended. The Hierarch glared at the Keeper… the Void Keeper… and staggered back. Why his Horus Guard hadn't come when he called for them over their mental connection shocked him. They were supposed to come when he called and yet they didn't. The Hierarch managed to compose himself, and covered his body with his cloak. "Do you have something to do with this…" he didn't know how to say it.

The Void Keeper nodded. **'Of course I did.'**

His eyes flared in anger. "How dare you interrupt a Holy Crus-?"

'**I like games,' **the Void Keeper said, interrupting him, **'To me, your quest for power and 'Covenant' is amusing. Only one other being has shown as much skill as you, and unlike you, he toys with his enemies. Here, you are going to be tested against three Empire's.'**

"What?"

The Void Keeper nodded absentmindedly. Reed blinked once, and saw a child replace the tall Grand Admiral. The child, however, had bright green hair and glowing red eyes, burning embers. His skin tone was an unnatural golden tone, and he had an innocent smile on his face. '**I selected three Empire's from three different Star War Dimensions that I felt would be some challenge for you. One is the Sith Empire of Darth Revan, the other is a Galactic Empire that never fell, and the final one is the Second Galactic Empire.**'

For all his power, for the all the majesty the Hierarch possessed, he couldn't help but feel shocked. _Three _fearsome and mighty Empires, Empires that spanned much of the known galaxy, which possessed millions of ships, and billions of soldiers to fight for their faithless cause?

Heresy!

However… this could work to his advantage. Based on the ever growing grin on the Void Keeper's face, he knew what he was thinking. Bastard. "Should I… play this game of yours," he said slowly, "will this galaxy remain under my control even after I am victorious?"

The Void Keeper nodded. **'But of course.'**

The Hierarch smirked behind his mask. "Then, let the game begin."

**.**

**.**

Something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Captain Sazer stumbled forward on the bridge of his Interdictor-class Cruiser, and cursed the unexpected exit from Hyperspace. "What just happened," he barked as he rubbed his head. In the name of Lord Revan, what was going on? "Someone, tell me now!"

He didn't get an immediate response.

On the bridge of his flagship, his crews were in a flurry of action. No one knew what had happened, or why the ship (and its accompanying force of four Cruisers and a Battleship,) had so suddenly exited Faster-Than-Light a dozen light-years from their designated target.

Things then got worse.

"Sir!"

Not caring that the Sith Officer had yelled on deck, he turned to face the young officer, and glared at him. "Sir," the officer said, "I reviewed the star charts and… well, everything is different."

"How so?"

"We aren't where we are supposed to be," he said nervously, "somehow, we were launched half way across the galaxy. We're in the Unknown Regions, nowhere near the Republic or Sith Lines."

Sazer blinked in shock.

_What?_

"Sir, a ship has just entered sensor range of the _Archer_!"

"Can it be identified," Sazer said quickly.

"No sir… sir," the officer in questioned said, his tone in awe, "sir, the contact is almost 14 _kilometers _in length! Unknown design, unknown power source and it is moving at unbelievable speeds!"

"Hail it!"

Before his communication officer could do such a thing, an image flickered before him, in front of the bridge. The figure wore a black cloak, and had a fearsome mask over its face. It looked so solid… and it had color… he wondered it was either some sort of highly advanced hologram, or a being had managed to transport itself onboard his ship, past the shields!

'_What the_…'

The figure then spoke. **~Heed my words, ~ **the figure spoke with clarity and tone that made his spine shiver, **~your time is at an end. I have come to spread Salvation, to bring the loving grasp of the One God, our Lord and my Father, to the faithless and the corrupt. Accept my offer, and join the Covenant, and let us cleanse evil from all hearts and souls and minds! ~**

'_What is he talking about,_' Sazaer thought.

**~Do you accept the eternal pleasure that is Salvation, or will you forever willow in the darkness that is the Sith Empire? ~ **Thebeing went on.

He narrowed his eyes.

"For Lord Revan," Sazer shouted as he drew his Blaster Pistol and fired two blaster shots. The shots went through the being-now obviously some sort of highly advanced hologram, superior to anything the Empire or Republic had-and hit the wall behind him with a scatter of sparks.

**~So be it. ~**

"Sir, I'm detecting a power build up from the unknown ship!"

"They've raised their shields!"

Sazer's eyes gleamed with a fanatic loyalty to his Lord Revan. When they disabled this ship, he was positive he would gain a promotion from Lord Revan for getting him such a unique and large-not to mention possibly highly advanced-vessel. He grinned mentally, but gave a cold appearance. "Fire with all batteries," he declared fiendishly, "and wipe them out!"

A flurry of Turbolaser bolts shot out from the four Interdictor-class Cruisers, followed by the extremely powerful-yet very inaccurate-bolts from the Autoblaster of the Battleship. Concussion missiles shout from the prow of the Battleship, and raced toward the enormous ship. It was a barrage that would have been able to even defeat the shields of a Battleship.

Not so.

The supposedly devastating barrage smashed harmlessly upon the shields of the large vessel, not even causing any sort of shockwave damage. In retaliation, five lances of some sort of beam weapon lashed out from the underbelly of the ship as it glided above them, and depressingly destroyed his accompanying force. Their shields didn't even hold out.

As soon as the beams made contact, the shields exploded in a devastating burst of death. Then, all around them, beams of blue-white light appeared and dozens of aliens, reptilian in nature with black armor appeared, holding some sort sleek weapon that was purple-bluish in color. It had two fins sticking out of its sides, and seemed to be of two semi-circles intertwined with each other at the middle. Sazer didn't have time to raise his blaster pistol before the last thing he felt, was a burning sensation of endless pain and death.

His last thoughts?

'_How…_'


	24. Chapter 24

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews: **

**VexMaster: Heh-glad that you liked it. You'll love this even more. **

**CRAZY CHRIS: Hierarch is insane, but that's gradual. By the time period in Clash of Empires, he's already insane, and Alexander Reed no longer exists. He's still learning, he's not a military leader, he never really expected to be pitted against three Empires with a mere 500 ships, and he's more concerned with Picard and the rapid progress of events. He won't use WMD, not yet anway, since he really does care for his people, and can't act too demonic. The Rebellion against the CE is starting, and Picard's escape starts it. But they won't be any real threat since the Hierarch has to, in the end, triumph. Madness wins everything. **

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**.**

**.**

**Don't forgot the Poll on my account and VexMaster's! Who wins in Clash of Empires, the Holy Covenant Empire, or the Mighty Galactic Imperium?**

**.**

**.**

_I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest._

**Revelation 6:1-2**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

_**Camelot Chamber**_

**.**

**.**

"What do you mean it's not here?" Mitchell said, a bit frustrated as he sorted through the mounds of golden, ruby-encrusted trinkets. He scratched his head and straightened up, turning towards Daniel. The Archeologist was on the other side of the room, who was also scratching his head. "Hello, Daniel," Mitchell said, "Hey, you there? What do you mean?"

Daniel turned, annoyed. "Well," he said a bit angrily, "we've been through this stuff at least twice. I mean, it's not HERE!"

Mitchell kicked a silver goblet. "Damn it! It's got to be here. Look, I once lost my keys in my apartment for three days."

'_What does that have to do with anything,_' Daniel thought.

"Colonel Mitchell?"

The two SGC members grabbed their slung P90's and swerved around to the entrance of the tunnel, flicking the safety up. After the incident with the Covenant a few weeks ago, they weren't taking any chances. They lowered them when they saw Meurik, Valencia, and a few other villagers take a few steps back, hiding in the darkness of the entrance.

Mitchell grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry folks," he said, slinging his P90.

"What he said," Daniel agreed.

The Colonel saw they were still cowering in the entrance and awkwardly displayed the room of gold to them. "Hi, er… come on in! Don't be afraid – the Black Knight's not coming back."

With obvious unease and nervousness, the group stepped into the room. Their feelings of shock were replaced by awe at the piles of treasures that glinted gold in the light, and looked around with amazement. "It is… incredible," Meurik said after a short pause, eyes wide.

He laughed joyfully.

"Yeah, it's all yours."

Meurik stared at Mitchell in amazement. "You do not wish to claim a prize for defeating Merlin's champion?"

"Well… there was one thing were looking for, but we can't find it so…"

"Actually maybe you help us," Daniel intervened.

Mitchell stared at Daniel.

He stared back.

Briefly.

He crossed over to the device in the chamber and picked up an aging volume that was covered in leather. He opened it to a select page and showed it to Meurik. The village elder looked in, and saw a picture of the legendary and often-sought for pendant of Merlin.

"Do you recognize this?"

Meurik chuckled. "But of course! This is Sangraal."

Mitchell walked up to them. "This IS THE Sangraal," Daniel said, a bit surprised.

The elder nodded. "It is also known as the Blood Stone."

"Of course, blood," Daniel muttered to himself, racking his large brain for everything he knew, "Blood red for the color of the jewel."

Mitchell shook his head in confusion: "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait, wait a minute here folks. We're talking about the Holy Grail right? In every movie I've seen that's a fancy golden cup.

Daniel shook his head. "Er no," he said, "actually, the notion that the Grail was a cup or chalice particularly the one used by Christ at the last supper was a late addition to the myth. You see on rare accounts it's described variously as a dish or platter or, in the case of Von Eschenbach in outer Middle East influenced chroniclers, as a 'stone that fell from the heavens'.

"If this is what you seek, you will not find it among these trinkets. Arthur and his Knights left to quest for the Sangraal long ago. They did not find it here, I can assure you of this," Meurik said.

"Do you know where they went?

Meurik scoffed: "But of course, Colonel Mitchell. It is said that they journeyed to three distant lands mentioned in the legends of Merlin's prophecy: Castianna, Sahal and Vagonbray.

Mitchell leaned towards Daniel, and whispered, "Any of those spots ring a bell?"

Daniel shook his head: "No, but if they were part of Merlin's prophecies then any one of his books could hold the key to what we're looking for."

The Colonel glanced up at the cave ceiling. "The books up-upstairs, you mean, Jackson? That's days, weeks to find the proper reference and then there's no guarantee that we're gonna be able to track them down. The chances of that are real low, lower than usual."

Then Meurik chuckled. "Searching for Arthur's whereabouts in this library is not necessary. Now, thanks to Valencia, we've been given a sign that Arthur will return soon and you are welcome to stay with us and wait - as the men that conquered Merlin's curse you will be given a place of honor.

Daniel growled.

Despite the fact that he was usually a calm and understanding person, some of Sam and Jack's and Teal'c's and Mitchell's attitude had rubbed off him. "Look, once and for all there was no curse, okay? This is a device. It's a machine; it's like a flour mill or a catapult, it's just a lot more complicated. There is no magic…"

Yet before Daniel could finish his sentence, a glimmer of light enveloped their bodies and they vanished. The beams flew upwards at an incredible speed and out of sight in seconds.

"Yaah!"

In panic, the villagers cowered at the edges of the chamber.

Meurik looked upwards.

"Magic!"

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of RFS **_**Korolev**_

**.**

**.**

"Powers…"

Daniel looked around and sighed. "Boy, my timing's off today."

With a grin, Colonel Chekov of the Russian Federation rose from his seat and walked over to the two American's. "Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson. Welcome aboard the _Korolev_."

Mitchell and Daniel shared a glance.

**.**

**.**

**Science Lab of the USS **_**Odyssey**_

**.**

**.**

Standing in front of a large video screen, Carter and the Asgard Kvasir watched the real-time projection of the Ori Supergate, and the data they were getting off it. The Asgard didn't blink once. With a flourish, Carter pointed at the image: "You see, there it is!"

Behind then, Emerson walked in, a serious look on his face. "Colonel Carter."

"Sir, we've managed to locate the dialing control crystals on one particular section of the gate," she said, speaking so fast that Emerson barely heard the individual words, "Now, Kvasir has already programmed a replacement crystal so it's just a matter of someone getting out there and installing it.

He smirked: "And I suppose you'd like to volunteer.

She smiled.

"Yes, Sir."

Then the Asgard added, "I would go but you do not have a space suit that would fit me."

Unable to help herself, she grinned at the grey Asgard.

To her surprise-and to the surprise of the Asgard-Emerson shook his head. "No one's going, the plan's changed. We just got word from the _Korolev_, Colonel Mitchell and Doctor Jackson didn't find the device.

"Sir," Carter protested, "Even without Merlin's device, dialing out is still our best bet because in the very least it will prevent them from dialing in. Well," she added seeing the semi-unconvinced-bland look on Kvasir's gray face, "it's possible with the power generated by the singularity we can maintain this connection indefinitely so the Ori won't come."

Emerson thought about it.

"What if the Ori Dial in before then?"

"If we go now," Carter said urgently, "that won't be an issue."

Emerson grimaced.

Fine.

"Go."

**.**

**.**

A few hours later, Carter regretted her choice.

"How do astronauts move in this thing," the Air Force officer muttered as three of the _Odyssey's _crew members fitted on the space-suit on her. "I can barely move a muscle in here and…" Whatever she was going to say was muffled as the helmet was lifted over her face and secured.

_Snap-hiss!_

"The Co-ordinates are set. Are you ready Colonel Carter?" Kvasir questioned from a control console nearby. He glanced distastefully at the Space-Suit. The Asgard had no need for such bulky clothing-in fact, the Asgard had no need for clothing at all. All Asgard vessels were built in the atmosphere of their world, and the ships themselves were being built using armies of drones. To his regret, the Asgard were no longer capable of building ships themselves.

He heard the Tau'ri sigh.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Initiating transport."

A flash of light covered the female's body, and Carter vanished from the room. The Asgard nodded as he tracked her transportation, and saw her appear near the area where she had found the Dialing Device. He paused and heard a beeping coming from within his head.

He accessed his body's mental network and heard the legendary Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, Thor, speak to him. ~_The Samantha Carter and Tyrfing are to arrive in the star system in four minutes. You are to take command of the Tyrfing when it arrives._ ~

He blinked.

Thor would have he, a scientist, command the pride series of the Asgard Fleet, an O'Neill-class starship? A ship that carried the most advanced technology of Asgard and Tau'ri? A ship that had shielding derived from those onboard the Tau'ri vessel _Enterprise _as well as 4 Asgard Plasma Pulse Weapons and a Covenant Plasma Beam Weapon?

Would his face permit it, he would have smiled.

**.**

Meanwhile, a beam of light appeared near on the massive chevron-like objects of the monstrous Supergate. From the Pel'tac or bridge of the Allied Fleet in front of the Supergate, the beam would have been impossible to see. The person who replaced the beam would have also been impossible to see. Carter was simply a speck against the Supergate.

"Oh boy," she whispered, awed by the size. Seeing an image of the Supergate was one thing.

Seeing it in person…

Whoa.

Clutching the Dialing crystal in her hand even more so, she took a deep breath once last time and shined her helmet's flashlight onto the massive metallic object floating in Deep Space. She pushed herself ever so gently and pressed herself against it so that her feet touched the surface of one of the grooves. "Engaging magnetic lock," she announced into her helmet's comm. link. She pressed a few buttons on her sleeve display and heard a _clank a_s her feet clamped firmly upon the chevron. '_Now comes the easy part,_' she thought.

Awkwardly, she began to walk to the protruding panel, dragging her feet on the surface of the Supergate. After a minute, she grabbed the panel and removed it, letting it float away.

"Panel removed," she announced again.

Her eyes widened as she saw the surprisingly few control crystals. She found the one she needed and pulled it out. "I'm putting our control crystal in now," she said again as she began to feel an ominous feeling.

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the USS **_**Odyssey **_

**.**

**.**

~_-control crystal in now,_~ the Colonel said over the subspace radio. Emerson listened earnestly on her progress. Two Asgard ships had dropped out of Hyperspace not too long ago, and the _Daedalus _had arrived as well.

They had given two of the three ZPM's that they now had to _Atlantis_, so _Atlantis_ would be able to fend off the Wraith and power the shields and cloak as well. They had also sent the Expedition some more personal and supplies, including twenty Mark II Railgun batteries, since the Fleet now used Mark III's. That and three more Mark II Naquadah Generators.

The _Korolev _was en route too after picking up the Colonel and Doctor, and so was Picard, escorting the _Prometheus _after it had a run in with two Ori-controlled Ha'tak's that had attempted to ambush the 303, but failed.

He smiled.

The _Odyssey_, like the rest of the Fleet, had been refitted with technology taken from the _Enterprise_. The Covenant Beam Weapons had been studied and reverse-engineered so that the _Prometheus _and _Odyssey _had Beam Weapons themselves. The Russians had complained about this, but they got an Asgard Pulse Cannon and Covenant shielding to compensate for the lack of Beam Weapons. The _Daedalus _and had also gotten Asgard Pulse Cannons, and shielding as well.

The Hyperdrive-Covenant Drive hybrid that the _Enterprise _used hadn't been put on any ships. It had been experimental, and despite having a shorter travel time between galaxies, it used a lot of power and needed a lot of precise calculations than the regular Asgard Hyperdrives.

However the Asgard had taken it, after putting one of their own Hyperdrives on the _Enterprise_, to study it.

~_It'll just take a few minutes to initialize_~ Carter said over the radio.

'_Hurry,_' he thought.

Suddenly he felt a heavy weight on his shoulders and squirmed in his seat. Something felt off….

"Sir, we're picking up increased energy output coming from the gate," Major Marks said from his side, looking at him.

'_What!_' Emerson thought, panicking a bit.

Before them, the Supergate rumbled. Electrical sparks expanded across the Ori Gate and spread quickly. ~_Something's happening~ _Carter said. He heard her gasp and add, _~I've lost my magnetic lock!~_

"It's an incoming Wormhole," Marks announced.

"Ger her out of there now," he snarled.

Quickly, he contacted her radio. "Colonel Carter."

Static…

He tried again.

Static…

"Damn it," he growled.

The Chevrons of the Supergate lit and glimmered, and he covered his eyes as the 'kawoosh' exploded outwards. It was a massive discharged, and he briefly heard Mark's say that the shields had dropped 2%. The discharge fell back and the event horizon formed in its place.

Emerson felt his mouth go dry.

"Oh no…"

He shook his head, snapping himself out his thoughts. "Can you re-acquire Colonel Carter's signal?"

"Negative, she's too close to the event horizon."

Worried, Emerson stood up and walked towards' the Bridge's window, hand to his mouth as he watched the activated Supergate. He could only imagine what horrors could be coming out of the Supergate, what terrible things lay beyond the Event Horizon.

"Eight new contacts coming out of Hyperspace right behind us!"

"What?"

The new contacts, however, were not enemies. To his relief, the _Korolev_, _Prometheus_, _Enterprise_ and five Jaffa Ha'tak's burst out of Hyperspace. They joined forces with the fifteen other Ha'tak's. ~_This is Colonel Chekov_. ~

Emerson smiled.

~_What is the situation?_ ~

"We've got an incoming wormhole," he said, responding to the Russian Colonel, "I suggest you prepare for battle."

He could hear Chekov give orders to his crew, and the rising flurry of activity on his bridge. "Is Teal'c with you?"

A pause…

…

…

~_Negative_. ~

The US Colonel sighed.

"What about Vala?"

~_I'm afraid not. _~

Another sigh.

Teal'c had gone off to 'find assistance' should the Ori, as they were most likely going to now, come through the Supergate. He still hadn't come back from wherever he had gone, and now he was getting worried. Vala had also gone off to find some help, she had left two hours before Teal'c. He wondered where the both of them were now, and where they'd gone.

The _Daedalus _and _Prometheus _took position below the Asgard ships, while the Jaffa ships joined their comrades in an arc formation, in front of all of the ships, but below them as well. The _Enterprise _hovered above three Ha'tak's, while the _Korolev _floated next to the _Odyssey_.

"This should be easy," he muttered to himself, taking his seat.

So why did it feel wrong?

Why?

The Puddle began to waver.

'_Here they come…_'

As if in slow motion, a massive warship emerged from the other side of the Supergate, a sleek and pristine-white ship. A large glowing ball floated between each of the oblique-oval shaped ships, glowing a bright blue. Then came another ship, and then another, and another. In all, four Ori warships emerged from the Supergate, forming a line as they charged with a purposeful slowness at the Allied Fleet. Emerson felt his spine chill.

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the RFS **_**Korolev **_

**.**

**.**

Mitchell frowned. "I only count four ships."

Daniel nodded in agreement: "It's probably their first wave."

"We should see what we can do about discouraging a second one."

Returning to his seat, Chekov ordered off a rapid line of orders, shouting them in Russian as battle alarms blared.

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the USS **_**Odyssey **_

**.**

**.**

"Sir, we're receiving a message from one of the Ori Ships – Text only."

"What does it say?"

"And those who are prideful," Marks said slowly, "and refuse to bow down shall be laid low and made onto dust."

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the RFS **_**Korolev **_

**.**

**.**

"Is that all it says?" Chekov asked.

Mitchell grimaced. "Yeah, that's it. They're telling us unless we don't let them go around and conquer the galaxy, they're gonna squash us like a bug."

"Open a channel," Daniel ordered.

Chekov raised an eyebrow but complied, and nodded. "Then did Tileus say to the people of the low plains: 'seek not wickedness amongst your neighbors lest it find purchase in your own house.'"

"What was that," Chekov questioned.

"Book of Origin."

"Ah…"

"Think it will help," Cam asked.

Daniel shrugged.

"I doubt it."

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of the USS **_**Odyssey **_

**.**

**.**

Suddenly the glowing ball in the center of each of the Ori ships began to glow brighter, and electricity coursed on the hulls of each vessel. "They're powering up their weapons," Marks warned.

'_The storm comes,_' Emerson thought.

"Here we go," he roared, "All batteries open fire."

**.**

**.**

At once, the allied fleet opened fire.

A wave of explosive Railgun shells burst from their batteries on the Tau'ri warships, and scores of Staff blasts from the oversized Ha'tak's made their way to the small fleet of Ori ships. Two bluish bolts erupted from the _Korolev _and _Daedalus_, ripping out from their Pulse Cannons and raced at the Asgard fleet. The _Enterprise _and the Asgard ships rushed forward and bombarded the Ori Fleet with their Plasma Beams. Silver shields flared and popped over the Ori ships with each hit, flaring as explosions rippled over them.

To no avail.

With a high pitch whine, four streams of bright golden light erupted from the prow of the Ori warships. The Fleet dispersed, going their own ways as they swarmed against the Ori Fleet. The Ori Beam Weapons hit the shields of the Ha'tak, not even pausing for the shield as it sliced through the Jaffa vessel in a single second. Flurries of drones erupted from the _Enterprise_ and were overtaken by an Ori Weapon. An Asgard Ship took two hits from the second salvo and crashed into a Ha'tak, tearing the wing off the O'Neill and destroying the Ha'tak.

The _Odyssey _and _Prometheus _swerved back and forth in a spiral as they fired their down-graded Beam Weapons at the Ori ship. To their Colonel's despair, the Ori Motherships didn't even flinch under the attack. On the _Odyssey, _Major Marks shouted, "they're firing secondary weapons!"

"Evasive maneuvers!"

Needle-thin lances erupted from across their hulls, golden in color, and smashed on the majority of Ha'tak's. A single beam overwhelmed the shields of the Goa'uld vessel, whilst a second speared their hulls and destroyed the vessel. Eight Ha'tak's spiraled out of control and erupted in terrifying explosions.

Reports were the same across the fleet.

_~The Enterprise's shields are down to 45%! ~_

_~Shields of the Korolev are at 50%~_

_~The Prometheus has 65% power! ~_

_~Odyssey is down to 50%~_

_~Daedalus is down to 27%! ~_

_~The Samantha Carter is at 67% shield power. ~_

_~Tyrfing is at 14% power. ~_

For the Jaffa…

It was worse.

**Far** worse.

Of the twenty mighty Jaffa Ha'tak's that had been with them at the start of the battle, only six remained… and then five…

The Ori ship continued to surge through, firing as they tore apart the allied Fleet, their shields holding. ~_Colonel Emerson, this is Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. We must concentrate all of our fire on a single Ori ship. _~

Smart man.

"Unlock all Nuclear weapons," Emerson barked, "Codeword: HAVOK. Target all batteries on the center Ori Ship to the right, and fire beam weapons. Launch the F-302's as well."

"Sir?"

He glanced at Marks. "We'll need to send everything we have against them."

"Yes sir."

Another Ha'tak exploded in a flurry of fire, and the _Samantha Cater _glided in front of two others, taking two hits from the Ori Weapons. The Ori shields flared here and there as they pushed ahead, hitting the floating pile of debris from the destroyed Ha'tak's and Al'kesh.

**.**

**.**

**Bridge of THE USS **_**Enterprise**_

"Shields are being depleted, rerouting power from Zero-Point Module to shields strength," Data said.

"Captain, two of our-half of our beam weapons have overheated," Riker said quickly, coughing. "We're losing power, and energy is bleeding through the shield and striking the hull."

"Continue on," Picard roared.

'_We cannot lose,_' he thought desperately.

**.**

**.**

And yet, the_ Tyrfing _roared above the Ori ships, blasting the selected Mothership with Pulse Cannons and Beam Weapons. But the shields of the powerful O'Neill-class ship were too far gone, too depleted. Multiple hits from the Mothership's secondary weapons and a hit from their Main Weapons sliced the Asgard Mothership at its engines, causing a cascading wave of fire to erupted and spurt from the _Tyrfing_, destroying it.

Plasma beams shot across open space and splashed on the Ori Mothership, and hails of Drones and missiles smashed on it. Tiny explosions erupted as shells burst on the shield, and a blue tint flared as the Pulse's smashed on them. "Their shields have failed," Marks announced.

Emerson watched in amazement as the white hull of the vessel became blackened, and scorched. The blue ball in the center dimmed, and the cracked appeared in the superstructure. Yet before any of the ships could do the finishing blows, the glowing ball flared suddenly, and Marks announced that the shields of the Ori ship had suddenly risen.

"Damn it," the Colonel muttered angrily. He noticed that the Ori Ship was moving at a slower pace than the others, and he suspected that it had sacrificed speed for shield strength.

Damn it.

"Sir, the _Prometheus_!"

"What?"

The _Odyssey_ turned, just as an Ori beam smashed on the shield, sending it spiraling, and smoke trailing. Its Sublight engines flared and then died. Emerson gripped his seat as he saw two Ori Beam Weapons smash on the damaged shields of the _Prometheus_, overwhelming it. A third beam smashed on the BC-303, and sliced through it without pause.

He watched in horror as the _Prometheus _exploded.

"Sir, the _Daedalus_ is pulling out!"

Emerson coughed. "Why?"

"They've sustained heavy damage sir, they're evacuating with some crewmembers from the _Prometheus _and _Tyrfing_."

'_Some good news,_' he thought. "Sublight engines, can we move," he said urgently.

Marks shook his head.

"We're dead in the water."

The _Odyssey_ floated at the edge of the battle, watching as the tattered remains of the Allied Fleet combated the now 3-ship Ori Fleet. "Sir, picking up approaching ships," Marks announced.

Hyperspace windows tore open above the Ori Fleet, five in total, and four Goa'uld Motherships emerged… followed by a _Covenant _ship. The star-shaped ship lunged over the Ori Ships, the Goa'uld ships escorting it. Two images appeared next to Emerson on the video screen, Vala and Teal'c. "Apologies for our late arrival," Teal'c said, tilting his head forward slightly. Based on the background behind him (and two twins that were working behind him,) Emerson guessed he was on the Covenant ship. Vala was on a Goa'uld Mothership.

"Where'd the two of you go," Emerson asked breathlessly as the ships bombarded the Ori ships with staff bolts and plasma beams.

"I had a talk with Ba'al," Vala said, purring. "You'd be surprised how easily he'll give in when you threaten the safety of his Empire…"

"We came at a good moment, did we not," he said.

"Better late than never," Emerson chuckled.

**.**

**.**

Outside, the battle raged.

The Ori Fleet continued on, the damaged Mothership trailing behind, moving slower than its brethren. The Allied Fleet continued to fire on the ship, even as the _Samantha Carter _left, entering a barely stable Hyperspace window and the loss of a Jaffa and two Goa'uld ships.

All that was really left were the Tau'ri ships and the Covenant ships, which weren't doing too much damage.

**.**

**.**

"Shields are down to 57%," Leoben shouted as Teal'c manned the weapon systems, sweat dripping from his face. "By the Hierarch and Divine Lord, this wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Drawing power from Hull Regeneration to Shield Restoration," the twin said, his hands a flurry of activity.

"We've lost primary Beam Weapon, Secondary Beam is overheating," Teal'c said quickly, holding onto the console as the 'Baseship' quaked once more. "We may be able to fire two more hits."

"The Lord shall protect us," Leoben's twin said quickly.

Teal'c, normally, would have contested the two twin's radical and foolish belief in a False God, but right now, that wasn't his issue. "What of Drones, are they still up," the twin said.

"Indeed."

"Launch!"

**.**

**.**

As wings of F-302's launched from the launch bays of the surviving 304's and Ha'tak's, hundreds of Covenant Fighters rushed out from their flight pods, blasting away at the shields of the Ori ships.

Scores of Fighters were torn apart by the secondary beam weapons of the white ships, tearing them apart time and time again.

**.**

**.**

Vala covered her face as sparks snapped out of the consoles in Ba'al's Ha'tak. "Shields have been depleted," a Jaffa barked, "we must pull out!"

"We can't," Vala snapped.

The ship shook violently.

The Ha'tak took cover behind the _Enterprise _and resumed firing it's improved Staff blasts on the Ori shields. "You are not my God," the Jaffa roared back, reaching for his Zat.

Before the Jaffa could do anything, however, a beam of light appeared in the Pel'tac, and Teal'c appeared, frozen for a moment. The stoic Jaffa looked around and seemed confused and shock.

"What?"

**.**

**. **

A flurry of drones from the _Enterprise _and the Covenant warship assaulted the damaged Ori warship, followed by suicide runs by the Covenant Wing-shaped fighters and bombing runs from the Tau'ri F-302's. Nuclear explosions erupted on the shields of the vessel, and overwhelmed them for a second time. Despite this, the Ori Ship managed to fire off one more shot, combined with the firepower from two other Ori Ships at the Covenant ship.

The first hit smashed on the shields, dividing half of the already depleted shields as more power was pushed to shield strength. The second hit overwhelmed the ship and the edges of the ship exploded by the impact. The third burned through the semi-organic hull of the ship and destroyed the ship in a devastating burst. However, two of Ba'al's Ha'tak's rammed into the Ori Ship, catching it with its shields still depleted, and explosions spurting between three ships.

In a glorious blaze, the three ships exploded.


	25. Chapter 25

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews:**

**The Hidden Sith: The Ori have to be a threat, to Tau'ri and Covenant. As a side note… why does everyone hate the Hierarch? **

**Gogolu: Thank you.**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**Also read this: The Raid of the Twelve Colonies... written by me**

**.**

**.**

**Go to my Forum if you have any idea's or anything you want to say!**

**.**

**.**

**Poll is over! And the winner is….**

**GALACTIC IMPERIUM!**

**.**

**.**

_And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.'_

**1 Samuel 15:18**

**The Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

"_Hail Children of the Covenant's Chosen and the reclaimed," the Hierarch declared, speaking as a semi-sold hologram to the many millions onboard their four fleets of a hundred ships. "I can feel your confusion, your faltering faith as you feel that something is wrong."_

_He paused._

"_I assure," he boomed. _

_Another pause._

"_Nothing is wrong!"_

_He spread his arms to his sides, raising them as his red and black armor glistened, and his cloak fluttered behind him. "The Lord, my most Divine and Holy Father, has given us a great test, a challenge we must overcome! We have grown strong in numbers and faith in a short period of time, and he has felt the time has come for us to go against a danger to ensure we do not become arrogant! In his almighty power, he as created an image of the galaxy we were destined to arrive at, enriched in evil that needs to be purified!"_

_He took a deep breath and went on. _

"_To ensure it remains a challenge, he has not given me any knowledge before hand, and now we must go forth and cleanse evil. We, alone, are the only forces of Salvation and Truth that remain in this galaxy, for we cannot join our brothers and sisters at Primo Solis and other worlds our Covenant is formed of. But we, brothers and sisters, we are strong!"_

_He lowered his arms and his cloak covered his body. _

"_And yet, despite our faith and unity, we are too few to deal with the evils that plague this galaxy. It is why that I must turn our conversion, for the briefest of moments in the eyes of the Lord and eternity, and focus purely on militarizing our small foothold in this galaxy._

"_Judges 7:22, __**When they blew 300 trumpets, the LORD set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbat.**__ This passage of the sacred bible represents our situation. Salvation for the True-believers in this galaxy must come second, for the moment, so any incursion from evil will not force us to flee and lose."_

_A depressing end._

_A rightful end. _

_Then the hologram dimmed…_

_And he vanished…_

**.**

**.**

**.**

Mustafar floated in space, its orbit so close to its yellow star that the surface was a volatile surface of lava lakes and sea's, of coal coasts and blackened rock. Yet despite the terrible and unholy of surfaces, the world was truly suitable for habitation, for life to live on the world.

Outside life.

…

…

Native life would die as soon as it was created.

As the lava lakes on Mustafar bubbled and boiled, a sleek and purple-hued shaped descended from orbit. The ship had a curved hump on its back, with a dozen turret-shaped objects underneath like feet. The beetle-shaped ship flickered and vanished, the smoke and light revealing a faint outline at times. The Phantom moved through the haze to a burned platform sticking out of a 'mountain' overlooking a vast sea of molten lava.

The sky flashed as a bolt of lava erupted not too far away, a pillar of lava spurting from the ground.

A gravity beam flashed to life from the underbelly of the disguised Phantom, and several figures dropped out, floating gently as they walked of the beam. The identical Cylon Humanoids, Leoben's, frowned at the badly scorched building. "Jesus… this is the structure the sensors found?"

"The only one in this sector of this Lord-Forsaken planet," another muttered, looking around as he coughed from the smoke. "The Hierarch is confident that what we need for this… test will be located here."

"Don't use the Father and Child's name in vain," another barked, pulling a pad from his pockets.

They all looked down, a bit ashamed.

"Forgive us," they muttered.

The Phantom disengaged the Gravity Lift and floated away, leaving behind two small crates of medical supplies, equipment and food. Between the two boxes were three deactivated Centurions.

The sleek-human shaped machines whirled to life as their red pulsing 'eye' flashed, and began to pulse back and forth. They rose up, straight as a rod. The red eye seemed all the more frightening in the blurry haze, and their intimidating bulk seemed to fade in and out.

Without caring though, the head Leoben copy gave orders: "Pick those two crates up and follow us. You," he pointed to the third that turned its head slightly, "go in front of us."

Without any emotion or without saying anything, the Centurions did so. The two Cylon Centurions picked up the crates with ease, whilst the third activated its wrist weapon and its missile launcher rose up from its shoulder, activated. Secured and with their things ready, they began to trek into the construct. The Hierarch had ordered them to investigate this building.

He was strong in his belief that on this world, they would find the machines to secure their Covenant and repel evil.

So far though, based on everything they were seeing-the blackened halls, decaying bodies and scorched walls-the Hierarch, for the first time, was wrong. But they had their divine orders, and ventured deeper. The leading Centurion had to blow several doors open that refused to budge, and had to move fallen pillars and boxes out of the way.

"Doesn't seem like anything here is useful…" one muttered.

"The Hierarch says so," another countered.

"Truth."

"How does he know?"

"He's the Lord's Second Child," the lead said, "now quiet and look around-we have to be careful as to not miss what-" he paused as a door slid open for them and revealed a large room. They looked in shock at the walls of consoles, the large (and laughably crude Super-Console in the middle,) and the two slightly-damaged holographic image generators at opposite sides of the room.

"Wow."

"Fan out, and see if anything here is serviceable. I think this is what the Hierarch told us to find. If it is, then we have helped the Covenant begin its efforts to repel Evil in this galaxy."

He paused and glanced at the three Centurions who were standing at the door. His eyes drifted to the two other doors leading into the room. "Leave those crates here, and guard the doors."

They did so.

"Surprisingly advanced despite being so crudely designed," a copy commented, "a lot of energy and heat is wasted, but we can improve it." He waved a pad over the console and his eyes widened. "Whoever designed these systems made them to last-the dating is a hundred years old, just a little over, actually. And it's still serviceable, this is amazing!"

He took a knife from his pocket and, hesitating, cut a slit on his arm and pulled out two bloody wires, sticking them into the console as blood ran down his arm. He froze; the other froze as well, as they were hit with decades of information.

_**CIS**_

_**Droid Army**_

_**Clone Wars**_

_**Dooku**_

_**Sidious**_

_**Galactic Republic**_

_**Grievous**_

_**Trade Federation**_

_**Droid Chassis**_

_**Blaster Technology**_

_**Electrostaffs**_

_**Slave Network**_

…

…

_**So much data…**_

…

…

_**So little time…**_

…

…

_**DOWNLOADED…**_

…

…

They blinked as they reviewed everything they shared with each other, all the data they had learned. They instantly knew everything about this factory, and the vast network of factories, control centers, shipyards, and such scattered around this planet, as well as the reason it was de-activated.

**.**

The Mustafar Network was secretly completed year before the end of the Clone Wars, and was created so that, as the Galactic Republic began to push back the Confederacy with its Jedi and Clone Army, they could rebuild on this isolated world. The Network was begun in secret, away from the prying eyes of the CIS leader, the mysterious Lord Sidious.

There were, in total, 200 Droid Factories, Armor Facilities, Research and Development sites, Shipyards, Mining Facilities, Storage Buildings, and more around the world, hidden underground, in mountains and hills.

They were all connected through an enormously vast underground network of passages and catacombs that connected each facility. The facility, however, was never to put to use for some reason.

Every facility had received a STAND DOWN command and a DEACTIVATION SIGNAL sent from the main facility.

The main facility, a Droid Factory that also housed a small Shipyard, had been activated a hundred years ago. An alien known Gizor Dellso, from a CIS-supporter from a species called a Geonosian (from a planet called Geonosis,) had arrived and reactivated the main facility. The exact deactivation code he had used (which made no sense to any of them at the moment,) was badly corrupted, as if it had been done so on purpose…

There…

"Very interesting…" the Head Leoben muttered.

Very interesting…

Apparently in the year 19 BBY, this Gizor Dellso had re-activated the main facility with the attempts and hopes of re-creating the Confederacy of Interstellar Systems against the dominant Galactic Empire (additional files later.) By 13 BBY, he had created a force of many thousands of Battle Droids and a small fleet of warships. The Leoben's were amused by the 'machines.'

Crude…

But despite being weak, they were easily manufacturability, and they were dangerous in large numbers. At any rate, this Galactic Empire had finally taken notice of the Droid Military force and attacked, destroying the fleet of droid ships and bombarding the main facility.

But they never found the Network…

Interesting…

This facility lacked a Droid Factory, and Shipyard and such, but it seemed to be a Back-Up Command Center for the entire Network. The Leoben copy copied the entire data stream, and found a map of all the facilities on the planet. He pinged each and every facility that was dormant, slightly damaged but serviceable or just blocked, for use. The rest, which was a small number, had been destroyed by the planet's violate and volcanic surface.

"Once proper planetary shielding has been placed on these facilities," one said, "we shouldn't have to worry about losing a facility to the planet, unless it sinks beneath these accursed lava lakes."

"Truth."

"Which will never happen," another said, a bit nervous.

"There's a facility nearby-we can access it by the underground routes," another copy said.

"What sort?"

"Droid Factory… it says its sole purpose was to mass produce… '**B2 'SUPER'-CLASS BATTLE DROID**… must be the shock troopers for the Droid Army for this alien, similar to our Centurions."

"Or cannon fodder," another muttered.

They nodded.

A possibility.

"Contact the Ha'tak," the Head copy ordered as they pulled out from their own private network. "Begin to send down DX-class Dropship and Heavy Raiders, as well as Scarab Excavators and anything else they deem useful." He paused and added, "The Hierarch will want to know about this."

**.**

**.**

'_Interesting…_' Reed thought.

The _Lucifer _floated in Interstellar space between Mustafar and the other nearest star system. He had received a subspace communication from the Ha'tak Mothership he had sent to Mustafar.

He was shocked that so many Droid facilities would still be fully functional a _hundred _years after they were built. What surprised him, however, was that these facilities were a hundred years old. That meant he was in the Legacy of Star Wars… an era he barely knew anything about.

Damn.

He had guessed that two Imperial-class Star Destroyers would match a CCS-class Battlecruiser, but he had no idea how a Star Destroyer using technology a hundred years more advanced would do against his fleet.

Damn it.

DAMN IT ALL!

At least, though, he could manufacture ships to support his forces. It had taken only eight hours for his scientists and researchers to crack the re-activation code for the Droid Network.

When they had done so, the lone Ha'tak he had sent to the planet had reported that they had detected a startling power increase emanate from the planet's surface all at once.

Excellent.

However he had stopped sort of construction from the facilities, being that now was not the time. First of he had to upgrade the ships before they would join the Covenant Fleet's.

Unfortunately, this would be harder than he had anticipated.

The power generators they used were very powerful yes, but compared to ZPM's and Neutrino-Ion Generators, they were nothing. He would have to find a way to replace their standard power source with a ZPM (of the few he had set aside,) but then he would have to also find a way to connect the ZPM Hub to the oversized power conduits that crisscrossed the ship. That, at most, would take a week to do. And that didn't include replacing many of the ship's systems for superior Covenant technology, and such.

Worse…

That was just a Munificent-class Star Frigate.

Great.

Just great…

Of the many ships the Confederate Fleet had, he chose only a select group of ship types to support his fleet. He chose the Munificent-class Star Frigate and the Recusant-class Light Destroyer as his support-support ships. They would be mass producible and take the brunt of the damage. To act as a Heavy Escort, he chose the Providence-class Carrier/Destroyer and the Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser, the _Devastation _subclass, to be exact.

He shook his head and a hologram of a number of flimsy to armored Battle Droids appeared for him. The flimsy but mass producible B1 Battle Droid and it's many dozen variants, the B2 'Super'-class Battle Droid which was equally pass producible including several of its variant types.

Following this came the very much superior B3-class Battle Droid, an upgraded version of the B2. It was easily twice as tall as the B2, and was more armored yet just as agile. He saw the three variant Droideka types next to them, as well as the Mark II Droideka followed by the IG-100 Magna Guards.

He smiled at the IG-100's.

Magnificent.

Whilst his scientists and research and engineer's began to upgrade the ship designs he had chosen, he would have to also improve upon these designs as well. He could only guess an IG-100 and possibly the B3-Battle Droid could stand against a Centurion, and most likely lose since his Centurion had more advanced technology, shielding and better weapons, which meant he had to improve them.

Sadly, though, the Separatist Battle Droids had a small power source, insufficient for using Wrist Plasma pulse cannons and personal energy shielding that were found on his Centurions. He doubted he would be able to find Naquadah in this galaxy, so that meant he couldn't even manufacture Naquadah Generators, and ZPM's were too precious to use on Battle Droids.

Sigh.

"Holy One..."

The Hologram snapped off and the Hierarch rose as a Sangheili Highest Commander, Voro Nar 'Mantakree, stepped in. His golden armor glistened in the dim lights and he bowed before his Divine Leader.

"We have sought habitable worlds and have found a number in a star cluster not too far from this world," he said. "We have already begun to lay the foundations for eight colonies, but process is slow since we had not expected the Father to leave us in this galaxy without support."

"You sound as if you are losing faith."

"No Holy One!" The Sangheili sounded horrified. "I simply mean to say that without the suitable colonization vessels we require, colonization and expansion here will be much slower."

"Truth… what else?"

"Nothing-this is all that we done so far."

He frowned.

"Have you not yet located the worlds we need?"

"I'm afraid not."

The Hierarch beamed the Highest Commander back to his vessel and sighed once more. Before he could do anything, he surely needed to militarize his forces. Yes, he had Mustafar but that was simply one world., not including the eight colonies that weren't of any great use. He had requested his forces, a few Ha'tak's and Carriers to search for two important worlds in the Outer Rim and Wild Space, the 'frontiers' of this galaxy.

Geonosis.

Kamino.

He knew that Geonosis had an enormous Droid Factory inside the many spirals of the world. In secret, the Geonosian's had created a powerful army of millions of Battle Droids and ships and armor support. He wondered if those factories were still useful for him.

Droids, however, weren't the only forces he needed. He needed not just mechanical soldiers, but also organic forces, soldiers that could think and act. He had two possible templates already, from his Human and Jaffa forces. While he would have preferred the Sangheili, the Sangheili were offended by clones. It was the reason they saw the Cylons as inferior beings to them. Essentially, Cylons were simply clones of each other, which made things worse.

He sighed.

He wasn't a military leader.

**.**

**.**

"Mr. Woolsey," General Landry said grimly, motioning for the IOA Representative to sit down. "Please, take a seat. What can I do for the US Representative of the IOA?" He said a bit grim.

"You don't know where the enemy ships are, or what they're capable of?" Woolsey said, getting right to business. He had no time for pleasantries right now-especially when Earth's survival was at stake. He leaned a bit forward and, a bit snarky, added, "Right?"

Landry frowned.

"All we know," he said, sitting down behind his desk and Woolsey leaned back into his own space, "is they cut through three of our 304's, the _Prometheus_ and Enterprise, two Asgard ships, and a fleet of Goa'uld Motherships. After a short burst from Picard that the Supergate was activated and they were engaging the Ori Fleet, we haven't heard anything else."

"So we lost the battle."

Woolsey then became agitated" "If that is the case then, they could be on their way here as we speak!"

"We sent the best we had to stop them," Landry insisted. He didn't like the way that Woolsey seemed to think the SGC hadn't tried to stop the Ori. The SGC was still trying to change their limited military wing into a full blown military organization. SGC Teams were being replaced with Offensive Squads, and all efforts were going to build a Multi-National Defense Grid if the Antarctic Platform wasn't working, as well as increasing the production of DSC-304's. "We had nothing else to spare. We had to reroute _Daedalus _after all."

"The IOA is considering bringing the Atlantis ZPM and the ZPM's that the _Daedalus _left there back to Earth, for use in the Antarctic Earth defense system. That way, when the Ori come…"

"Even if we had a ship," Landry interrupted, annoyed at the bald man, "it would take a minimum of three weeks for the ZPM to get here. And there's no guarantee the Ancient weapons platform in Antarctica would be any more effective against the Ori ships than what we've already thrown at them."

He leaned over to Woolsey's space: "As usual, the IOA is wasting their breath."

He leaned back, relaxing.

"You know, if I had the salaries they pay those idiot blowhard politicians to put into my budget…

He paused: "I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?"

Woolsey ignored his jab.

"What about _Apollo_? We could've sent her to aid the force."

"The _Apollo" _Landry said, shocked that the man would even consider sending their latest ship. "The _Apollo _won't be space worthy for another two months, a month if we really rush it," Landry barked. "Hell, it might be more since we're trying to tack on the Horizon Weapon Platform under it. And the _Franklin D. Roosevelt _and _Athena _won't be ready for a year or two," he added.

"We need to defend Earth," Woolsey stated once more.

"With what ships," Landry said coldly, standing up.

It was time for Woolsey to leave.

**.**

**.**

Two Ha'tak's sped out of the Hyperspace exit window, bearing the mark of Ba'al's Second Empire. They took flanks next to the sole surviving Ha'tak from the futile engagement and surrounded the gray-hulled ship floating in front of them. "Two of Ba'al's Mothership's just dropped out of Hyperspace," Marks said grimly from his console.

Mitchell limped next to Marks, frowning. He had escaped the destruction of the _Prometheus _with Daniel and four other F-302 pilots. He'd seen the Ori Ships ignore the damaged _Enterprise _and Ha'tak and _Odyssey_, and enter Hyperspace. The _Enterprise _was floating not too faraway. He was surprised that Ba'al was focusing on the ship since it was less advanced that the Enterprise… but perhaps he wasn't confident he could take the Enterprise.

So he was taking an easier prize.

Great.

They had picked up Sam when she'd been stranded near the Supergate, and beamed Vala and Teal'c off the Ha'tak. Sam was in engineering, whilst Teal'c and Vala were in the med bay after they fought of an attempt by some of Ba'al's Jaffa to execute them after the battle was over.

How Ba'al-like.

Emerson grimaced at the number of Ha'tak's that he was facing right now. "Come about," he ordered, "Let's face'em head on."

"The flagship of the force is hailing us."

"Put it on."

To their surprise, Ba'al appeared: "Lower your shields at once in the name of your God Ba'al, and prepare to be boarded." The System Lord demanded, his voice echoing, "Or you will be destroyed. I can assure you people of Tau'ri, I can now destroy your… vessel."

"So like Ba'al," Mitchell commented.

Ba'al narrowed his eyes.

"Do not test me Colonel Mitchell," Ba'al threatened.

Mitchell glared back.

"Marks," Emerson muttered.

"Shields at 12%," Marks responded. "Even with the upgrades we got from _Enterprise_, the shields won't be able to stand up too long against a sustained bombardment from the Mothership's."

"Crap," Mitchell muttered. "Sam, ho's that Hyperdrive coming along? We've got company," he said into his radio.

~_Not well. Kvasir's still working on the beam technology._~

"Sensors indicate the Motherships are powering weapons."

"Divert all power to shields and fire any weapons we have left," Emerson ordered. He wasn't going to give up so easily. He would at least to try to take one of those dammed Goa'uld Mothership's down with him. "Target Ba'al's flagship, fire before they can, at once."

"Sir, three more ships just emerged from Hyperspace!"

"Type?"

"Ha'tak class!"

"Damn it," Emerson muttered.

The _Odyssey _was surrounded.

"Receiving Hail."

"On screen, Marks."

The screen flashed and came alive, revealing the aged and wise face of the Jaffa Master and Councilor, Bra'tac. He had a face that would have put Teal'c stoic face to shame. "Greetings," he said.

"Bra'tac! Greetings back atcha. Head's up, Ba'al is getting ready to open fire on us, just to let you know…"

"I have already demanded that he stand down, or face us in battle."

'_Ba'al won't listen,_' Mitchell thought.

He was right.

At once, Alarms blared on the bridge. "They're firing weapons," Marks announced, "I'm directing power to shields!"

The two newly arrived Motherships fired globs of golden plasma bolts upon the damaged Ha'tak, breaking through the already damaged shields and shattering the golden pyramid.

~_Shol'va's,_~ they heard Ba'al roar on subspace radio as the remaining Ha'tak's turned tail and fled into Hyperspace. Bra'tac's Ha'tak's continued to open fire, destroying another Ha'tak.

"I guess we've all had enough fighting for one day," Emerson whispered.

"He just didn't want us to be able to salvage their ship when they turned tail and ran," Mitchell commented.

**.**

**.**

A few minutes later, Teal'c smiled as his former Master walked into the medical bay of the Tau'ri vessel. "It is good to be alive, old friend."

Mitchell interrupted the reunion with a grimace on his face. "We just got some bad news."

"The Ori ships have been located. Moments ago, they emerged from Hyperspace… Over Chulak."

Teal'c paled considerably.

**.**

**.**

A Ha'tak exploded in terrible fury.

Two Ori Ships charged forward over Chulak, firing their weapons as a fleet of Jaffa ships attempted to repel them. Swarms of Death Gliders and Al'kesh fought against the all-too powerful shields of the Ori Motherships. The lead ship unleashed a wave of arrowhead-shaped fighters which sliced through the great waves of Death Gliders, one falling for every five Gliders and Al'kesh.

A wave of evil.

Pure evil.

.

.

"Why Chulak," Emerson questioned as he, Teal'c, Bra'tac, Mitchell and Carter walked down a corridor.

"Perhaps because it is where the Jaffa rebellion against the Goa'uld began," Bra'tac reasoned. "But the reason does not matter. We must not abandon the Jaffa on our world or our families."

"Well as soon as we get our hyperdrive back," Emerson said quickly, "we have to head to Earth for repairs. Picard say's he'll stay behind to keep an eye on the Supergate. He has Sublight engines and two Plasma turrets."

"We may not be able to stop the Ori ships from coming through, but we should at least know if they do," Carter said.

"We will also leave a small contingent in a cloaked scout ship behind," Bra'tac said. "It may be possible to board their vessels."

"Can you expect backup?"

"It is unlikely. The remaining Jaffa fleet defends Dakara.

"You've only got three Motherships. We had a lot more than that here, and we couldn't stop them," Mitchell grumbled.

"We cannot merely standby as our brothers and sisters fall," Bra'tac, said, horrified as they entered the Ring Platform room. "

Sam, I'm going with them," Mitchell said.

She nodded.

"Me too."

"It's suicide," Emerson warned.

"Well, for Teal'c and Bra'tac, that's not really an argument against going."

He nodded in agreement as Carter joined the others on the ring platform.

"Good luck."

The rings rose and they vanished.


	26. Chapter 26

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews:**

**Alpha Omega Protocol: Heh, I know the feeling. But it was either too much like VexMaster's GI, the initial version. I redid it into the Covenant, based off the Halo Covenant, and because I had this idea for a while for a original story, that I added to this! **

**The Hidden Sith: He is, ain't he? **

**Soulless Reader: I have ideas on how to make less hateable… though they would very much lessen his threat level if I do them… Eh. The Ori Battle battle took place in the chapter before the previous chapter…. Chapter 24. **

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**Also read this: The Raid of the Twelve Colonies... written by me**

**.**

**.**

**Go to my Forum if you have any ideas or anything you want to say!**

**.**

**.**

_I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "__**Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; they will not have a fugitive who will flee, or a refugee who will escape.**_

**Exodus 18:11**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

The three Jaffa Motherships traveled through Hyperspace, speeding fast through the strange and unique dimension. Bra'tac stared emotionlessly at the swirls of the Faster-Than-Light realm, manning the controls on the Pel'tac. He took deep breaths, one breath at a time. "It's kind of a skeleton crew on board," Mitchell said as he walked next to Bra'tac; hand on his Magnum strapped to his waist. "How many more Jaffa do you have on the other ships?"

"Not many," the Elder Jaffa said wearily, "Getting the Council to simply relinquish just three Ha'tak's was difficult enough. The crew, I will tell you, I had to, myself, assemble personally."

The Colonel frowned.

"So, we're outmatched in manpower, firepower, and technology. Do we have any sort of battle strategy, or are we just planning on dropping out of hyperspace and getting our asses kicked again."

He paused, noting the silence from the others on the Pel'tac and, mentally, snickered at the surprised look on Bra'tac's face. He shook his head: "Hey, I'm all about noble death. But a _pointless _noble death, on the other hand… now that, I have an issue with guys."

Carter frowned.

"_Korolev_ log indicated that they were attempting to use the rings to get a nuke through the fluctuation in the Ori ship's shield that was coinciding with the firing of their main weapons."

"Great! So we'll use the other two ships to draw their fire while we sneak around the backside and jam a big old nuke up their tailpipe."

"But we don't have any nukes," Carter said.

Mitchell turned around and faced Teal'c and Bra'tac. "The two of you have any fancy Jaffa bombs lying around?"

"We have explosives that should be effective, Colonel Mitchell," The stoic Jaffa said.

Carter nodded. "All right, that's good. As soon as we drop out of hyperspace, I'll start broadcasting on all radio channels. If Daniel's still alive, hopefully he'll get the message that we're here, and he can ring aboard."

Mitchell nodded and slapped Bra'tac on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "There you go!" Covertly, however, Mitchell slipped and attached a small device onto his silver shoulder armor.

"Now we got a plan," he grinned.

Bra'tac smiled, amused.

**.**

**.**

Daniel grunted as he slid the slightly-too small Ori Helmet over his head, and grabbed a stylized Ori Staff Weapon off one of the racks. The weapon was similar to those used by the Jaffa, but it was sleeker and had more curves. It looked somewhat similar to the weapons of the Covenant Honor Guard's, but chrome-silver plated, with a glowing ball at the rear end.

He looked around and took a deep breath.

'_Great-of all the places I ring unto, I don't go to the Odyssey, I go to a damn Ori Supership!_' He wondered what had made him think to warn the DSC-304 not to use nukes.

The Nukes didn't work, and the Ori Ship wasn't destroyed. And that was when the ship had lost shields too. Somehow, the Ori had detected the nuclear weapon and either destroyed it or disabled it.

Either way…

It wasn't good news.

He took another breath.

He tapped a key, and the door slid open.

'_Here I go_.'

**.**

**.**

The three Ha'tak's ripped out of the Hyperspace window, and the two at the side of the flagship immediately began bombarding the three Ori Motherships in orbit around Chulak. Every bolt went and hit their mark, bombarding the pristine white ships with hundreds of energy bolts.

Several Death Gliders emerged from the Ha'tak's bays and sped toward the ships, followed by a dozen Al'kesh. But the Ori Shields repelled the bolts, and the ship's suffered no damage.

As one, they began to move away.

"It's chasing them," Carter whispered as she and Bra'tac watched one of the Ori ships race after the two Ha'tak's which had begun evasive maneuvers, crisscrossing as the ship rapidly closed the gap between them. The two other Ori Ships simply floated there, but then one of them began a slow descent down to the planet. The other made a U-turn and raced ahead towards the flagship.

"Moving into flanking position," Bra'tac warned.

The flagship briefly re-entered Hyperspace, and emerged a few hundred thousand miles away from where it had been before. The Ori ship ignored them and its path curved just a bit.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Please come in," she radioed.

**.**

**.**

~_Repeat. This is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Please come in_. ~

'_My luck is not that good…_'

Hiding in a room, and locking it, Daniel pulled the radio out from his armor suit and flicked it on. "Sam, it's me, Daniel," he said quietly.

~_Daniel! I knew you'd made it._ ~

He chuckled. "_Yeah, it's good to hear you, too. Listen, can you beam me out of here soon? I can't find the ring room here anymore… every hall here looks just about the same._"

~_We're in orbit, trying to blow up one of the Ori ships._ ~

He frowned.

"With a nuke?"

~_Yeah. _~

"No, no, no, no! The _Korolev _tried that when the Ori Ship had lost its shields, and it didn't work. If that didn't work on an unshielded Ori ship, then I don't think it will work on a shielded one."

He heard a sigh.

~_Where are you?_ ~

"_I'm in the ship that's going to land on Chulak. I'm going to have to tell you the rest later. Requesting radio silence._"

He heard the door open, and hid his radio, standing erect and holding the staff weapon in his arm as a guard would. The door opened, and two Ori soldiers walked in, and narrowed their eyes. "You, what are you doing here? Why are you not preparing for the first ground engagement in our divine crusade? We are preparing to leave soon, hurry!"

Crap.

**.**

**.**

_Sswweht!_

The high-pitched whine of the Ori Main Weapon echoed briefly as the ship destroyed one of the Ha'tak's.

"I am detecting the fluctuation in their shields, almost in range."

Carter shook her head.

"Daniel say's Chekov tried that. It didn't work on an unshielded Ori ship, so it shouldn't work on a shielded one."

"What?"

Carter activated the intercom to the Ring Room. "Mitchell, Teal'c, don't activate the bomb."

~_What? _~

~_For what reason Samantha Carter? _~

"The plan won't work, Daniel told me. And we just lost a Ha'tak."

~…~

~_Wait, Daniel? He's here? _~

"On one of the Ori Ships, Colonel," she replied.

With a grimace on both their faces, Sam and Bra'tac readied themselves as they joined the battle.

The two Ha'tak's bombarded the Ori ship with plasma bolts, slamming harmlessly into their powerful shielding. In another lifetime, an undisturbed timeline and universe, the sheer number of bolts would have caused the Ori shields to flicker, to fluctuate. But not here.

Ori were stronger.

They were not holding back.

Their engagements and counter-influence of the Covenant and Salvation had taught them much. They gave their human followers greater technology, stronger weapons and defenses. Without it, the Ori ships would have been easy kills for the Allied Fleet, and the Crusade would have ended there. But they had learned, and they had adapted to this.

BOOM!

An Ori Mothership descended vertically, and tore apart the other Ha'tak with its secondary weapons. Carter and Bra'tac flinched at the sight, and dived beneath the Ori Mothership. Behind them, Mitchell and Teal'c arrived, jogging and, for Mitchell, slightly out of breath. "We just lost our last Mothership," Carter said grimly, "we're the only ones left."

"Let's get Jackson on board and get the hell out of here."

But Bra'tac paused.

In a voice that was somber, he uttered: "Truly I am sorry, Colonel Mitchell. That is not the plan."

On their view screen, they saw an Ori ship turning their back toward them with Chulak looming behind it.

Mitchell began to panic. "Bra'tac, what are you doing?"

"I believe he intends to ram the enemy vessel."

"Yeah, I got that," he said sarcastically, "You do know that'll kill us."

"I think he knows that."

"Indeed."

"Teal'c, this is crazy, and not the good kind of crazy, you know that," Mitchell said.

The Jaffa glanced at him: "What would you have me do, Colonel Mitchell?"

Mitchell growled, furious at the nonchalant attitude. "Talk to him, stop him, do something!"

Teal'c blinked.

Then he sneered. "We will die…"

"We will die free."

Mitchell blinked and froze.

"Chances are we'll just impact the shield. We won't do any damage to them," Carter argued, "You know that!"

"What do you think; you're making some kind of a statement?" He roared to Bra'tac waving his hands, "Hey, I know this is your ship, we didn't have to come along, and maybe it is better to die in battle, I don't know. I was never really hoping to find out. But I do know one thing. There's no point in dying when you're going to lose anyway. Not when you have a choice."

The elder Jaffa had been looking at the Colonel the whole time he had spoken, but then he scowled and return to the view screen, continuing. Teal'c stepped between his former Mentor and his friends. Carter had a worried look on her face, and a look of betrayal and hurt.

As the Ha'tak increased speed, several pinpoints of light appeared not too far away, and swelled to form glowing exit windows. Bursting out of them, several Covenant Assault Carriers and the _Odyssey _followed them. ~_Burn these heretical infidels, burn them to the Devil! _~

_Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, this is Emerson, come in_. _What's your status?_ ~

"Beam us on board," Mitchell said coldly.

"Enemy ships have detected our presence," Mark said, "the Covenant flagships are moving to intercept-they're firing."

Lances of plasma raced across space and smashed on the silver shields of the Ori ship, followed by three waves of golden drones emerging from each ship. It was beautiful and deadly sight to behold. But the Ori ship returned fire, cutting away two waves of drones with its beam weapon, and cutting swathes away with its secondary beam weapons.

"You should have four beacons transmitting," Mitchell added.

"What?"

Bra'tac turned around to him.

Mitchell smirked.

"I planted one on you earlier, just in case."

Beams of light covered their bodies, and they vanished.

The Ha'tak raced forward, the Ori ship covering their entire view screen. The pyramid ship, a symbol of terror and oppression for centuries across the galaxy, crashed into the weakening Ori ship and barely caused any damage to the shield. It broke apart into tiny fragments.

Quickly, the United States starship turned tail and ran as an Ori Beam sliced through the shields of an Assault Carrier, burning through its neck and emerging through the other side. Explosions rippled from there, the head vanishing in puffs of fire within seconds whilst the rest collided with another, the shields failing, and a piece of the carrier charred.

The _Odyssey _fled into Hyperspace.

**.**

**.**

"What the hell was that?"

The two Jaffa said nothing as they stood straight, cold.

Emerson and SG-1 stood opposite of them, arms crossed over their chests. They all had a hurt look on their faces. "I did what I felt was necessary-we had to prevent the fall of Chulak. To lose Chulak would have been a terrible loss to morale within the Jaffa Nation."

"Indeed," Teal'c said gravely.

"It doesn't matter," Mitchell interrupted. "Teal'c, you should have more sense in you, OK? You just lost two dozen ships trying to stop their Motherships from securing a beachhead, and at least half a dozen more over Chulak. And you just lost three more ships in a damn suicide mission, the both of you should have known wouldn't have done a god damn thing!"

"And what would you have us to Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c demanded.

Everyone paused for a moment.

"I see," Teal'c snarled.

"What could we have done Teal'c," Emerson snapped, "those ships are a stronger than anything anyone in this galaxy has. Covenant, Asgard, Jaffa, Earth and others couldn't stop them. Chulak was lost if the Covenant hadn't arrived, and even then, they might not win."

_Beep!_

Without pausing, Emerson pressed a button on a built-in intercom into the wall. "Yes, what is it?"

~_Subspace links from the Subspace probe._ ~

"Put it on the view screen."

~_Yes sir. _~

Probe?

What Probe?

Emerson saw their looks as he had them sit down in the conference room, and pressed a button on a control. A screen lowered from the low ceiling and flashed to life in front of them. "Just before we entered Hyperspace, I left behind a probe to see how the battle goes."

"You spy?"

"Intelligence," Emerson responded to Bra'tac.

An image flashed on the screen, and showed two Assault Carriers battling a single Ori Mothership. They saw a glimpse, the tail, of another move off screen where another battle, presumably, was going on. Drones and plasma beams smashed into the tiny Ori ship, but it's powerful, almost ridiculously powerful, shields brushed it off, and didn't stop firing.

One of the Assault Carriers shields flared and collapsed, and the Ori beam burrowed through the side and exploded. Tiny explosions pinpointed all of space around the two sides, fighters and bombers. Out of nowhere, another Ori ship dropped down vertically and cut apart the second Assault Carrier with a sustained barrage it commenced once it arrived.

The image cut off suddenly.

Everyone paled.

"The majority of the fleet, our fleet, managed to escape and are undergoing repairs one by one," Emerson said as he turned off the monitor. "We also got a message from Picard-four more Ori Ships just arrived and _Enterprise _managed to get your Jaffa and get of there with an unstable Hyperdrive before they could be destroyed. Right now, the Ori are winning this war."

"Unfortunately, right now there is no war."

Everyone looked at Mitchell, surprised and confused.

"What do you mean," Bra'tac questioned.

"In a war, you've got two sides fighting. All we have is a lot of winning by the religious fanatical bad guys. They have troops and ships in our territory, and a Supergate to bring in more any time they need them. And none of the most advanced technology in the galaxy can stop them."

"Are you saying we should give up," Emerson demanded.

"I remember when we first opened the gate. The Goa'uld had total domination over the galaxy. They had massive superiority over us. A lot of people didn't think we had a chance."

"True," Daniel muttered.

"I'm not saying we should give up," Mitchell went on, "I'll fight to my dying breath, there's no arguing with that. I won't allow the Ori to rampage across the galaxy and become another Goa'uld Empire, not while we have to protect everything that we've accomplish."

He paused.

"I just think we need a new plan."

Teal'c nodded grimly.

"And a damn good one."

**.**

**.**

**A week later…**

**.**

**.**

Vala and Carter joined Mitchell at the base of the ramp as the wormhole activated with a flourish. Dressed in High Council robes, simple yet empowering, Teal'c came through with a grave look on his face. Mitchell stared back at Teal'c, arms crossed over his chest.

"Six more worlds have fallen to the Ori," Teal'c said somberly. "Two are…. Were Jaffa Strongholds, each of them with a fleet of Ha'tak's and many Jaffa defending them. They attempted to resist, but they were overwhelmed within a matter of hours. Reports indicate that there was only one Ori Ship."

Everyone grimaced.

The four of them walked down the hallway, quiet. "Six planets in eight days, and they don't even have their full team in the field yet," Mitchell muttered. "Actually, make that nine since we've just heard that three Covenant worlds were just slugged to death by the Ori."

He shook his head. "No survivors."

"Why haven't they made a move against Earth?"

"In all probability, the Ancient device in Antarctica is most likely giving them pause," the Jaffa said, "neither Covenant nor Jaffa possesses such a powerful weapon. And the Ori must first cement their hold around their Supergate, for fear of it being destroyed and they being stranded."

Carter shook her head. "I doubt that. I mean, Covenant Assault Carriers have hundreds of drones and the Ori shields just deflect them. I don't think that that is the reason Cam. I think that they're toying with us. They're saving the best for last… until the rest of their fleet gets here."

Vala was about to say something when they heard someone shout: "I GOT IT, GUYS, I GOT IT!"

Out of nowhere, Daniel ran around the corner, carrying an old and heavy book with dust covering the cover. He was breathless: "Guys, I got it! I made the connection, Sir Gawain to Gwalchmei, Culwhch and Olwen, Verus Gen Bree!" He had an excited look, which differed from the confused and wary look on everyone else's faces. '_What is he talking about,_' they all thought.

"And you say I'm hard to understand," Sam muttered to Mitchell.

Daniel grinned sheepishly, "Oh-oh…its—its, ah, uh, Vagonbrei. One of the planets Arthur and his knights went to in their quest for the Holy Grail.

"I got the gate address."

**.**

**.**

Taking a deep breath, the General of SGC took a seat as SG-1 took seats around him, opposite of each other. Daniel walked over with a file in his hand, taking a seat between Mitchell and Vala.

"While on PX1-767," he said, "we got the names of three planets: Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei, three possible destinations for Arthur and his knights in their quest for the Holy Grail, what we know to be Merlin's weapon. Unfortunately, what we didn't get were any corresponding gate addresses, and the process of going through that library page by page looking for clues could have potentially taken years. So, I knew we were going to have to narrow the search parameters a little. That's when it hit me: Sir Gawain."

Smiling, Vala opened a book to a marked pace (a page which was bent,) and handed it over. The archeologist handled it carefully and held it up to show everyone the slightly blurred picture. "Wasn't he one of the Knights who say "Ni"?" Mitchell asked, frowning playfully.

"He was a Knight of the Round Table," Daniel said.

"In one of his earliest incarnations, an old Welsh tale," he continued, "he went on a quest to help rescue a lost love. The legend says that Sir Gawain, AKA Gwalchmei, visited several lands over the course of his adventure, including a place called Gwlad Gan Brenhinol Gwir, which is Welsh for "Land of Royal Truth". Translate that into Ancient, and you get "Verus Gen Bree"—Vagonbrei.

"So, how does that get us a gate address?" Carter asked.

Vala opened another book and handed it over-smiling.

"Uh, it doesn't," Jackson said slowly, "But it did give me something very specific to look for in Merlin's library, namely references to Gawain," he said, catching speed, "Now, based on this information, I started scanning through the titles, and I found this. Now, the entire volume is dedicated to Gawain's adventures and includes several very interesting illustrations, including a depiction of a sword he once carried. Note the symbols engraved on the blade.

Quickly, he passed the book over to Landry, who traced his finger down the illustration of the blade. His eyes recognized the symbols, having seen them for a year already every day. "A gate address."

"Vagonbrei," Mitchell muttered.

Daniel smiled, obviously pleased: "Well, we won't know until we check it out."

"Well done, Doctor. Colonel Carter, what's the status of the Ori Supergate?"

"Any attempts we've made to dial out to the Ori galaxy has failed. It looks like they're blocking us from their end."

"There is a Mothership in the area that will alert us to the arrival of any other ships," Teal'c said, bowing his head a bit. "So far, they report that other than the four other Ori Ships that arrived when _Enterprise _was there, no more Ori Ships or any sorts have emerged through."

"More ships," Landry said, standing up. "We can hardly deal with the ones that are already here! You have a go. Find that weapon."

"Yes, sir," Carter saluted.

Vala smiled: "Will do."

They stood up to leave when the Stargate began to activate. The first Chevron lit up and glowed a bright orange. "What the hell…" Landry didn't even finish as he and SG-1 rushed down to the Gate Oversight Control room. "Walter, close the Iris," he demanded quickly.

"Yes sir."

The Titanium-Trinium alloy Iris slid over the Stargate, pausing for a brief second as it sealed shut. The final Chevron lit up and the wormhole activated just behind the Iris with a hiss.

Already, twenty armed guards are at the Gate room, P90's raised and two guards' manning the Staff Cannon's and 50 cal's at the edges of the room. A guard even hefted a bazooka.

For a moment, nothing happened.

"Sir, we're receiving a video message on the other side."

Landry glanced at the SG- members around him. "Put them on."

An image appeared on one of the many screen hanging above their heads, and all of their eyes widened as the image of a Covenant soldier, the reptilian one with the four mandibles wearing golden armor, appeared. He beat a fist on his armored chest, and lowered it. "Heed my words, Tau'ri, for I am Highest Commander Ripa' Morama'ee, requesting permission-" the way he said it, he sounded forced, "-to come upon your soil. Respond."

"He asked politely," Mitchell said sarcastically.

"Why would the Covenant want to contact us… especially through a Stargate when they have their ships…" Daniel muttered.

Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps they have lost many ships attacking the Ori. That is always a possibility." He paused and added, "And yet, they had a thousand or more ships when they invaded the other galaxy, the one Picard emerged from. They have sheer number on their side."

"So let them in?"

"They are Covenant,' Teal'c growled.

Landry shook his head.

After Teal'c and Bra'tac's stunt, which would have cost their lives and the lives of SG-1, he couldn't trust Teal'c too much anymore. He sighed. "Open the Iris, and let them in," he ordered. Teal'c stared at him, but knew that he deserved this. He did not know what had come over him before.

The Iris swirled open, and as soon as it did, the alien emerged at full height, towering over the tallest Marine. The US soldier's took a step back from the Reptilian alien as two more aliens, both reptilian but with black armor, emerged behind him, the wormhole closing behind them. The alien looked up into the eyes of General Landry, "We have much to speak."

**.**

**.**

"We have located the world, holy one," a Sangheili bowed.

The Hierarch nodded in approval as the _Lucifer _glided above Kamino. "You have found Geonosis-excellent. I presume that you found the sites that are required to crush the heretical forces here?"

He hoped they did.

It would make the initial assault much easier, and would cost him less valuable forces. He felt satisfied with the Sangheili gave the correct reply, and dismissed the Fleet Master.

Already, he had two billion Battle Droids constructed, and a hundred ships supplementing his forces. The superior labor technology of the Covenant had greatly enhanced construction efforts here, and the more streamlined and less-bulky designs were smoothed down.

He had changed his priorities a bit, however. The main forces of his Droid Army would be the B2-class 'Super Battle Droids,' with Trinium-Durasteel armor plating. Durasteel was a thousand times stronger than Trinium, which had surprised him and made him wary.

As such, he had to also armor his Centurions and his ground forces, armor and organic, with Durasteel armor.

He had not anticipated that.

Ah well.

He stood up and beamed himself down to Kamino, to the cloning labs. Cloning procedures were much faster a hundred years after the Old Republic era. A million clones could be produced every half-year, if rushed. Initially, he had declared cloning to be against the laws of the Covenant….

But he had to change things.

He sighed.

Things were changing a lot.


	27. Chapter 27

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate or any of other universes I'm going to crossover with…**

**.**

**.**

**Reviews:**

**Leech10: Oh yes. They most definitely are. Just as a note, the Ori are more powerful than in the series. The Covenant isn't weak, their technology isn't weak, but the Ori are more powerful. **

**John777: Thanks for the support!**

**The Hidden Sith: Ouch… But hey, the Tau'ri are getting a big booster now. Gotta compensate for the Covenant and the Ori now…**

**.**

**.**

**Inspired by StarGate: Galactic Imperium » by VexMaster.**

**.**

**.**

**Please, please, please, please, PLEASE, review! Even if you hate this story and want it burned for heresy, tell me. Give me your opinions, suggestions, criticism, hate mail and fan mail! PLEASE!**

**.**

**.**

**Also read this: Clash of Empires... co-written with VexMaster.**

**Also read this: Stargate: Galactic Imperium… written by VexMaster**

**Also read this: Golden Dawn... written by Amann**

**Also read this: War of Gods and Men... written by Amann**

**Also read this: The Raid of the Twelve Colonies... written by me**

**.**

**.**

**On Fictionpress dot net…**

**Also read this: The First Step... written by me**

**Also read this: The Empire... written by me**

**.**

**.**

**Go to my Forum if you have any ideas or anything you want to say!**

**.**

**.**

**Look! A new poll!**

**.**

**.**

_When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, _

**Acts 5:27**

**Holy Bible**

**.**

**.**

"Heretic!"

"Barbarian!"

"You will perish in all levels of hell!"

With that, the Sangheili-that was what they refereed their species as-lunged forward and tried to choke Picard as soon as he entered the room. Data, however, stepped between them, and the Sangheili paused quickly.

He bared his mandibles, having seen what the mechanical being had done to Honor Guard's. They, of course, had been Jaffa/Human, but Honor Guard's nonetheless. He stood down and growled menacingly, ignoring the twenty guns pointed at him. "What is this heretic doing in our presence," he demanded.

"He's here at our request," Landry said.

"You insult us!" Another Sangheili declared.

"How," Teal'c demanded.

"This heretic avoided death at the swift hand of the Hierarch, stole a ship gifted with the technology of the Lord, and destroyed many ships," the Fleet Master said with a surprisingly calm tone, though it held anger and suffering. "He has been died, has denied, passage to Heaven!"

"I did so because we would not live under an un-enlightened religious society as the Covenant," Picard snapped back. "You invaded us; you took away our culture and our freedom's!"

The Sangheili snarled but they took their seats. They shifted a bit in the too-small seats and finally stood up. Landry, SG-1, and Picard and his two crewmembers, Data and Riker, took their seats opposite of the Sangheili. "You can go," Landry said to the US Guard's. They hesitated, but holstered their guns and walked out of the conference room.

Picard and Riker glared at the Sangheili, holding a bitter and immortal grudge and hatred for them. Their old uniforms had been replaced by a replica given by this version of Earth.

They were still suffering from culture shock, the idea that their universe… their _lives_… had all been part of their imagination, which their voyages had served as nothing more than entertainment.

Of course, things were different.

They saw things from different viewpoints; saw alternate realities they had never lived, saw events from other perspectives and lives of other people, from the famed Kirk to legendary Janeway, and her adventures from the Delta Quadrant back to Earth, the clashes with the Borg, and the Dominion. The Mirror Universe, the Terran Empire and their experiences.

Picard shuddered.

"What can we do for you," Landry began.

"We propose a coalition," The Sangheili said forcefully. Clearly he didn't want to be, that much was obvious.

"A Coalition, you say?"

"More of a… alliance, in truth," The Sangheili corrected himself.

"Alliance?"

"The threat of the Ori, these heretics," the Sangheili nodded, going on, "they cannot be ignored by the Lord or any of the lesser powers. Our forces are spread thin, intercepting possible sightings and defenses. We have, just now, lost eight planets to the Ori. They have all been reduced to fiery hulks, burning worlds without a hint of sentient life."

Everyone nodded, grimly.

Picard, however, chuckled mentally, a sick and twisted chuckle that him sick just doing it. Finally, the Covenant was getting what they deserved. The same fate that they had done to the Federation, to countless worlds that wanted to believe in science and peace, not the fanaticism of religion, was being done on them. It is interesting, he thought with pleasure, that it was yet another religious power, the Ori that they thought to be inferior that was burning their worlds.

How… ironic.

Yes…

That was the proper word.

"Why don't you deal with them yourself," Picard questioned, "We all saw, my crew saw, the sheer numbers you have. One of our ships was worth a hundred starships, and you have thousands of ships. Clearly, clearly, you can swarm the Ori with numbers and win easily."

The Sangheili growled.

"In a better time… perhaps."

"What do you mean?" Teal'c asked.

He narrowed eyes.

The Sangheili gave a predatorily smile. "The Second Crusade has begun. Our Great Lord, the Hierarch, is leading this Crusade. A Crusade Fleet has been dispatched; the bulk of our newly created forces, to bring enlightenment to the denizens entrenched in darkness. However as such, our forces here are barely enough to defend our worlds, and many have already fallen to the Ori. Alone, we cannot fight back against these heathens."

Picard paled.

_A Second Crusade?_

The Covenant was invading another dimension, another galaxy? He glanced, secretly, at everyone else, and saw that they were thinking the same thing. They had all very much, underestimated the Covenant.

"So you want us to take some the damage for you," Daniel said slowly.

The Sangheili nodded.

"Mutual losses," he said.

"That's… interesting…" Landry said forcefully. "But as I bet you are well aware of, we aren't capable of doing too much damage either. Our entire force was badly damaged just trying to take out their first wave, and we only managed to destroy one, out of the eight that are-"

"Six."

"Excuse me?"

"There are six Ori ships within this galaxy," the Fleet Master said proudly. "We wiped two heretical ships from this galaxy, though at a great cost in faithful followers and ship's."

"How many," Mitchell and Riker said. They looked at each other, surprised. "Sorry," they said again.

They narrowed eyes at each other then.

"More than usual," the Fleet Master said. "However the attacking force only had two Assault Carriers and a Baseship. The majority of the force was composed of Destroyers and Battlecruisers."

**.**

**.**

_Two Assault Carriers, a clone-Cylon Baseship, eighteen Battlecruisers, and twenty two Destroyers, dropped out of Slipstream and roared over Trinitus, their engines flaring at past their safety marker. Their Repulsor engines struggled to meet the demands that were pushing on them, and flared unevenly. But they held and pushed forward, swimming on open space. _

_They were the Covenant's staple ships, their strongest and most common ships of all their warships. Their outlines filled the ranks along with meager Ha'tak's and the many ships they had captured and modified from the United Federation, and her various allies and enemies._

_Fleet Master John Hithro sat in the gravity chair on the bridge of the Holy Starship __**Blade of God**__, arms and legs crossed as the holographic image of the world appeared before him. _

_He sneered._

_He caught himself, however, and felt ashamed. How was that proper behavior of the Covenant? _

_However, he had truth to sneer. He was a human born in this galaxy, and he was proud of it. The humans in that other galaxy, with the idealistic and arrogant humans, had dared withstand against the peacefulness assimilation, and instead went to war with them._

_He sighed._

_Still…_

_He sighed again. _

_The majority of Fleet Masters and Ship Masters were Sangheili, and he was one of the few humans to occupy such a prestige position. At the moment, mere one hundred or so humans commanded a ship, and less commanded a fleet of a hundreds ships! He had the honor of being one of those hundred. And he would not fail the Hierarch in this most holy of tasks! _

_Unfortunately, he had only three Capital ships and a number of lighter ships. As a holy warrior in the service of the Covenant, he should have had a hundred ships. But the majority of ships, his fleet included, had been assembled to push into the other Dimension, where the Second Crusade was to begin. He could only wonder the awe the beings there would have when they saw an illustrious child of the Lord, the greater of two, and the most pure of all beings! _

_He sighed._

_And yet, even with his ranks, it had taken him a while to simply commandeer these seven ships alone. He did not have the influence and regal strength that a Sangheili Ship Master possessed. And a Ship Master was below him! He grumbled but took a deep breath and calmed. _

_He leaned forward just a bit and narrowed his eyes as he saw a single pristine-white shape hover above the world. The image magnified, and revealed the Ori Mothership, as well as the shattered and broken remains of two Destroyers. Their broken hulls surrounded the Ori Mothership. _

_He growled. _

_Heretics!_

"_They dare desecrate a holy world, a world that had accepted Salvation with their whole lives? Impudence!" He muttered as he uncrossed his legs and contacted his Ship Masters. "Hail my proud warriors, and heed! The heretical Ori have come over one of our most sacred worlds, and have begun to spread their seeds of lies and evil into the Covenant."_

_He paused._

"_It is our duty to stop them. We are the warriors of the Covenant; we were chosen to do so! Shall we allow evil to transverse on the path to Salvation, shall we all them to corrupt purity and faith?"_

_The reply was as one._

_~NO! ~_

_He slammed his fist on his armrest. _

_Humans were passionate race, and he was no different._

_With a terrible fury and faith, he roared:_

"_OPEN FIRE!"_

_Streams of plasma lanced out of the turrets of the Covenant Assault Carriers, and struck the side of the Ori ship. Silver shields flared around the ship, and the ship itself veered to the right. Multiple plasma beams leaped out and burned space, pulsing and hissing. _

_The Ori Mothership attempted to maneuver below, but the streams of plasma had already launched. As the Ori Ship move, the jets of plasma curved and struck the rear of the ship. But for all the plasma that was striking at the Ori ship, for all the fire and death that rained down upon it, their shields held as if mocking the strength and conviction of the Fleet Master._

_Such arrogance!_

_The Ori ship then began to weave through the beams, which curved and burned each other out of narrowly, missed their target. "Fire all drones," he ordered to his fleet, a clam face on, "All at once from all launchers."_

_He hoped it would be enough. _

_The small force, which wasn't even a Task Force which would have been 75 ships of varying classes, fanned out and formed an inverted arc. They spread out for hundreds of miles (which the ships crossed in seconds,) and continued their terrible, if somewhat futile, assault. _

_A thousand and more drones burst out from their confines and raced through open space and to the Ori ship. _

_The Ori Ship returned fire immediately, its engines glowing brightly with a trail of light behind it. Its prow glowed a bright gold, and then a powerful beam burst out and struck a wave of drones. Explosions rippled in open space, and spread far and wide. The beam continued on until it vanished in the wall of drones. Multiple needle-thin beams, the Ori's secondary weapons, burst out and battered away. They sliced apart drones from afar. _

_Hithro grimaced. The Ori ship accelerated, diving downward as multiple plasma beams struck the trail of drones that were following the Ori ship, destroying many of them. The ship rose upward and bombarded the underside of a Battlecruiser with its heretical weapons, straining its shields. _

_A Hyperspace window tore open in front of the Ori ship, and it entered space, appearing above the ship, horizontally as it cruised towards another Assault Carrier, firing on it. The formation broke apart as each Ship Master strove for the kill. The trail of drones, meanwhile, smashing into the underside of the shield-weakened ship, and tore through it without pause, curved in their path to destroy the Ori ship. Hithro watched in pain. _

_No…_

_No…_

_No…_

_No…_

_NO, NO, NO, NO!_

_Suddenly a Hyperspace window opened, and a second Ori Ship emerged, racing forward and immediately fired on the Assault Carrier, skimming the surface of the sleek warship. _

_The shields collapsed, and tiny explosions burst on the gray-blue-silver hull, which combined into a larger explosion that tore the Carrier in half. The original Ori Ship entered Hyperspace and reappeared in front of the Basestar. "All vessels hold fire and fall back," he ordered quickly._

_The Ori were not fools._

_They were using the Covenant's own divine weapons against them, which he had to admit was ingenious of them. They used their drones as a wall to protect them from the plasma beams, which had, in turn, destroyed many of the drones, the many which had not been destroyed by the Ori. _

_He sighed._

_Too late, however, the Basestar exploded. "Self-Detonate the drones," he ordered. "Concentrate all power to Torpedoes, and target a single Ori ship, on my mark." He set the target as the initial Ori ship. The ship made a turn, and faced the side of a Destroyer that was turning about. A quarter of his force was facing them. _

_It would have to do._

"_Fire Plasma Torpedoes!"_

_Snapp-hissss! _

_The prows of the Destroyers, Battle cruisers, and Assault Carriers glowed, and electricity crackled. Energy rose, and a burst of plasma erupted out violently, streams of uncontrolled and shifting plasma. The discharged faced ahead and crashed with force on the Ori s hip, the plasma whipping around the ship, the shield flaring all over the ship as the plasma engulfed it. Narrow beams of plasma burst forth from the sides of the ships as they continued to fire, the beams smashing as the Ori ship vanished and a single ball of plasma remained. _

_When the plasma dispersed, the ship was gone. _

_Suddenly then, he saw the Ori ship, the newcomer, begin to retreat, fleeing from the battlefield. _

_He would not allow that to happen._

"_Resume combat," he ordered. "Launch all wings, and fire all remaining drones. Do not let that ship escape!"_

_There was a chorus of agreements. _

"_Is that wise, Commander?"_

_The Artificial Intelligence Hologram, Gabriel, appeared next to him. AI's were a new technology the Hierarch had given the Covenant through the intelligence all sovereign lord, before he moved to lead the Second Crusade. AI's were scattered throughout the Covenant warships, and had greatly reduced the need for crewmembers onboard the vessels. A single AI could do the work of a hundred officers, and could also manually do work._

_Gabriel was one such AI, semi-solid and could manipulate objects, touch controls and open doors. The Crusade Fleet had been upgraded with the vast new technology given to them, and represented the pinnacle of Covenant technology. If only they were here, they would not be suffering so many losses. _

"_Do not question my decision-we cannot let these heretics burn more of our holy worlds," he said to the AI. The AI, dressed in flowing white clothes with blonde hair and blue eyes, with a nibble in hand and a pair of feathery wings sticking out of his back nodded. _

"_Forgive me."_

_Then he vanished._

_The Covenant ships accelerated, and he saw tiny dots that represented the vast fields of fighters burst from their containment and rush towards the ship. As expected, the fighters were torn apart by the Ori's outrageously powerful secondary beam weapons, sniping them away from a distance. _

"_Picking up a build-up of energy readings-they're preparing to jump into Hyperspace Commander."_

_The human frowned._

"_Fire-it does not matter we are within distance."_

"_Yes, Commander." _

**.**

Picard grunted.

"1 Battlecruiser was worth a thousand Sovereign's," he muttered.

"Truth," the Sangheili said.

He paused and added: "For you, it was," he corrected, "against the Ori heathens, it is not."

Ouch.

Picard grunted again.

"Well, if this coalition-alliance does happen," Carter said, "what do you want, and what do we get?"

"_Enterprise_, Picard, and all the unfaithful heretics," the Sangheili declared suddenly, raising his voice. "In return, you shall receive our most advanced shielding, Sublight propulsion, and experimental Pulse Cannons, as well as several starships that will be suitable enough for you."

"What?"

"No!"

"You're insane!"

"We would rather die than be surrendered to you!"

"We won't give them up!"

"Over our dead bodies!"

Everyone roared at once.

Attracted to the noise, the door slapped wide open as the Marines ran in, obviously waiting behind the door, and fired their Trinium-tipped rounds. The Sangheili roared as bullets smashed harmlessly on their armor, whilst some were deflected and crashed into the walls or glass window.

"Ahh!"

Mitchell collapsed to the floor, leaning on an overturned chair as he clutched his right arm. His shoulder was bloodied, and he gasped and winced in pain. "Hold your fire, hold your fire!" Landry roared as SG-1 crowded around their team leader. "God damn hold your fire!"

Instantly, the fire stopped.

"What the hell are you doing," Landry shouted. "Take Colonel Mitchell to the infirmary," he said to Carter. He focused then on the Marines who had never seen the General look so furious. "What the hell was that? Who told you to fire on them, hmm? Who, tell me?"

The Marine Sergeant stepped forward, weapon holstered. "Sir, we thought-"

"Shut up," Landry barked.

"But sir-"

"Get out, and I'll make sure your superiors know about this," he barked as the Marines shuffled out quickly. The beady, narrowed eyes of the Sangheili followed them, and they growled menacingly. One of the Marines growled back, and then scampered away when the Highest Commander took a single step forward. '_Cowards,_' he thought with glee.

The very _essence_ of the Tau'ri, he thought.

"Let us resume," he said.

They all took their seats, the Sangheili a bit awkwardly.

"Shall you surrender Picard," the Commander questioned once more, withholding a sight when they refused, again. "Then this coalition-alliance is impossible," he declared nastily.

"Realize this," he added however, "that we do not need your assistance in repelling the Ori."

"Yeah-I think I said that already," Jackson said.

The Sangheili growled.

"But you will suffer severe losses," Riker said, "and I don't think that you would like that… especially when you lose so many ships…. And leave your Empire open to an attack by… this 'Bol' and others."

"Ba'al," Sam corrected.

"Yes, him," Riker said.

He looked at her a bit strangely.

"You threaten Covenant," he snarled.

"In a way," Data said, surprising everyone with his words.

"Ba'al is no threat to the Covenant, for his false persona of a God is known to all," the Sangheili said. "No loyal being, no faithful would bow to one would deem himself to be equal to the Lord, the almighty. None of his pyramid ships or his fleets can withstand the fury of a single warship within the vast Covenant and would he dare try to take a world, his followers would crumble at the sheer strength and zeal our people, warriors and not, have!"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Now, does the Covenant fear Ba'al?"

"No…"

The Riker-human, Ripa' Morama'ee noticed, stood his ground although he flinched and looked down for a brief second. The Sangheili bared his mandibles, when Daniel stood up.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Let's not start shooting!"

He glanced at Data whose hand was already hovering over the stolen Plasma Rifle at his waist. His hand looked laughably small over the large weapon, but he knew that the android would be able to kill him and his escorts without warning. The robotic being was not as… loyal and faithful as the Cylons were, and, without a doubt as sentient or human-like.

This from the perspective of a Sangheili.

"It is clear that we cannot form an alliance against the Ori," he began.

"Perhaps we can," Picard said quickly.

The Highest Commander narrowed his eyes. "You would not surrender yourself to the Covenant, human-heretic," he said. "You said so yourself, as did your allies and your masters."

"We are not their masters," Mitchell said.

"Truth… to an extent," one of his escorts muttered to himself.

The other chuckled.

"I would give myself up to be executed for a false religion," Picard said, "but it is obvious that we need each other. And who is to say that _Enterprise _and I will not fall in combat against the Ori? It is always a possibility. Earth and the Covenant are the most powerful entities in this galaxy, aside from the Asgard, who can stand up to the threat the Ori are. Neither the Free Jaffa Nation nor… 'Ba'al' can actively wage a war and win against the Ori. If we are to free ourselves from the Ori, then we _must _work together despite our differences."

The Sangheili blinked.

Picard spoke truth.

Despite his claims, the Covenant could not stand against the Covenant for long. Truth is told, the very moment the Ori came, they had handled it terribly. Their forces in this galaxy were diminished with the Crusade, and many had been pressed into service, barely completed to supplement the current force. Great numbers of ships had been torn apart by the Ori, and their Priors spearheaded the invasion on ground. Despite numerical and technological superiority, as well as their faith defending them, the Ori were able to secure planet after planet. Centurions and Sangheili could hold them back, but their Priors…

He paused.

Their Priors had somehow gained more power. Two of the Covenant's Priors had been torn apart by a single Ori Prior, where the Priors should have been an equal match. And the Covenant needed allies to repel the Ori. They had not been able to contact the Hierarch as of yet, and his holy wives, Boomer and Caprica, were not as excellent at leadership as he.

The truth was…

The Covenant _needed help_.

He sighed mentally and nodded.

"Our previous offer…. Still stands."

"We already have your shielding, system of propulsion," Data said. "As such, we will not need those. However your offer of Pulse Cannons and starships is most acceptable."

"What sort of starships," Carter questioned.

"Supplement ships," Morama'ee said. "After the fall of the Great Powers in your galaxy," he motioned to Picard with a slight glee. "We acquired a vast number of ships from varying races. We purposely left many of your shipyards and bases and such untouched. Many ships are being uses to still order and peace, and prepare for future expansion. The starships I am offering you have been stripped of all but basic technology you can modify as you wish. I believe you call them…" he paused for a brief moment, "'Defiant'-class starships."

"_The Defiant's!_"

He nodded. "Correct."

The _Defiant_-class starships was a heavily-armed, limited-role Starfleet vessel, developed in response to the Borg threat as originally encountered in 2365, and spurred on by the shocking results of the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367. Just 170 meters long, t_he Defiant-_class was a heavily-armored, stripped-down starship and incorporated the latest in Starfleet weaponry and defensive technology and was equipped with a class-7 warp drive.

The _Defiant_ was considerably smaller than most other Federation starships. They proved instrumental in the defense and offense against the Dominion and the Borg.

Picard's mind continued thinking about the ship.

They four Phaser Cannons arrayed on their port and starboard sides. Their Phaser Beam Emitters were a secondary supplement to their primary weapons array. They had been armored with six torpedo launchers and were filled with both Photon Torpedoes and Quantum Torpedoes.

Their Deflectors had been the strongest in all of Starfleet, and had, late in the war, built with Ablative armor.

Unfortunately, for all the miracles the _Defiant_-class was, they had been able to stand up to the Covenant. During the only engagement where the Romulan's, Federation, and Klingon's ever fought together during the Covenant Crusade, Picard remembered as he had taken part in it, a Covenant Destroyer had torn apart several _Defiant's _as it made it's way towards the largest Space Station between Klingon-Federation-Romulan space. By then, the border between the three powers had changed considerably.

Before, it used to be Klingon-Federation.

He pulled himself out and on the meeting.

"… They good?"

"Enough to provide a strategic advantage against the Ori," Picard returned. '_Especially if we can use one of those ZPM's they put on Atlantis, and stitch in as many weapons and defenses on the ship. They would be faster and stronger and more powerful than anything right now, except, perhaps Enterprise._'

"And what shall we receive?" The Sangheili questioned. "You have little to offer than accepting our alliance, if brief. For these several starships, we will withdraw our Pulse Cannons, however. With the holy technology you took from us, you do not need those weapons."

Picard grimaced but nodded. "What do you want in return?"

"Nothing more than two things of which are one. The ability to inspect your Antarctic Weapons Drone Platform and the ability to scan the entire Platform as well with our ships."

'_How the hell did they know about that,_' Mitchell thought.

"I don't think-"

"We accept," Picard said suddenly. He glanced at Jackson, who understood. They needed those starships badly.

"It is done then. We will return to our world and we will have a ship arrive in orbit to inspect the Platform." He growled. "Do not insult our honor, for we have given much up. We expect you to shoulder the same burden we shoulder now. This war will cost us much."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Archer moved to stand before the helm and navigation stations at the front of the bridge's command well. He turned back and stood before his chair, arms crossed behind his back as he waited.

He had found a uniform in the ship, but it was too… different that what he was used to. He preferred his own uniform. "This is the _Starship Defiance_," he said with a natural command tone. "If you don't surrender immediately, I will fire on your cities. _Respond_."

T'Pol slid into her station, finished with her duty. He trusted T'Pol now, after she found Hoshi had been working with Mayweather to kill him. He had been shocked when she tricked Admiral Black his crew who had attempted to take _Defiance _by giving them up to Archer. Along with Hoshi and Mayweather, he had both of them all killed for betrayal.

He glanced back at her.

She had proved loyalty to him.

He would prove loyalty to her.

When he became Emperor, he would have Vulcan's become equal to Terran's. But that served for two reasons. One, it would ensure T'Pol would remain loyal to him and in his service.

Second, the majority of the rebellion was composed of Vulcan's and Vulcan ships. When they learned of their elevated status, a large number of Vulcan's would rejoin the Empire.

He turned his attention back to the screen.

Nothing. On the vewscreen, Earth continued to turn.

He knew by know, Starfleet HQ had gone into chaos with the arrival of the _Defiance_ and the newly captured _Avenger_. With Black and his supporters on both ships had been executed, he staff the Battlecruiser with crewmembers he could trust. A minor delay as this was to be expected. Truth be told, he didn't care if Starfleet responded to his hail or not.

Either way, he was Emperor.

Finally, the image of Earth warbled out, and the grizzled visage of Fleet Admiral Gardner filled the screen. The expression on the old man's face was of utter rage, which was understandable. ~_Archer? What the hell are you doing? Where's Black, and where's Forrest?_ ~

Archer narrowed his eyes as he gave the man a withering look. Gardner, he knew, had been the greatest opponent to his desire of power. He had blocked Archer's chances to gain control of a ship. And to see him in command of a completely strange ship _and _the _Avenger _was sweet irony. "You're speaking with _Emperor _Archer. Prepare to receive instructions."

Gardner seethed, outraged and furious. He could tell he wanted to reach out and throttle him from Earth. ~_I won't give this order again Archer. Stand down your weapons or I will happily blow you and your god damn ships to kingdom come. ~ That_ confused Archer. Neither _Defiance _nor _Avenger _was in the range of any of the ground-based Phase Cannons.

What was he playing at?

Behind him, his navigation officer reacted to an urging chirping at his console. A human man, someone who wasn't important enough for Archer to remember, manned the console. "Capt- I… I mean, your _Emperorship_, twelve ships are closing on our position."

Archer froze: "From _where_?"

"They were hiding, your majesty-behind the moon."

On his viewer, Gardner blinked off, replaced with a cold empty view of space, empty save for the distant silver points of light arcing towards them from around the crescent moon.

He was impressed. He had calculated-correctly-that Starfleet would take another two days to reach Earth at maximum warp. But of course, Starships-like humans-could be pushed beyond what they were capable of when the need arose. The Captains of those vessels must have burned out every warp coil in their nacelles to make it home ahead of _Defiance_. He knew that the Eighth Fleet, composed of mostly out-dated ships that had been pressed into service, was stationed close by. He admired their resolve and initiative-assuming those officers onboard those ships survived the day. He doubted that they would. 

"Tactical," he ordered.

"Fifteen Intrepid-class Battlecruisers, twelve NX-class Battlecruisers, several Congestoga-class Corvettes, modified of course…" his officer hesitated for a moment, "and the _Imperator_.

A four-nacelle dreadnaught, the _I.S.S. Imperator _was a pure killing machine, originally designated as the Terran Flagship. That is, until the _Emperor _had deemed it too big and ugly to carry that distinction. It was worth two-three NX-class Battlecruisers in terms of firepower.

The first vessel of its class, the rebels had also made certain _Imperator _was also the lost. Knowing the tide of the war would turn against them if more were built; they had destroyed the Antares Fleetyards where the Dreadnaught had been built. The rebel losses had been significant, but they had achieved their goal: _Imperator _would be one of a kind.

"They're hailing," Crewman Newbill reported from the comm. station.

"Put them on."

The lovely face of Fleet Captain Erika Hernandez filled the view screen. Archer had never been onboard _Imperator,_ but from what he could see, the bridge was at least as large as _Defiance_.

"_Archer_?" His ex-girlfriend, if anything, appeared even more surprised to see him than the Admiral had been. Previously, she had been the commander of the _Colombia_, which had been destroyed during the early years of the conflict with the Xindi. After that, she had been promoted to _Imperator_ after her Captain onboard the ship had been found dead.

She was the first female Captain in all of Starfleet.

"Hernandez… you're looking well."

Hernandez addressed him as if they were still seeing each other. No, he corrected himself, as if she was trying to talk him off a ledge. ~_Archer, Jonathan. Listen to me very carefully. If we are going to win the war against the rebellion, we _need _that ship. It would be a waste to destroy it. ~_

Destroy?

Laughable.

"Skip the threats," he said. "You scanned us, and you know what _Defiance _can do to you."

~_You can't take on an entire Fleet Archer,_ ~ she said. ~_I don't care what century that ship is from. _~

That surprised him. He hadn't anticipated, or even guessed, that the origin of the Sovereign-class starship had reached her. He wondered what Hernandez and Starfleet had been told about the starship, and the Federation universe it had come from. It was ironic, he thought, and that the Vulcan-Earth alliance he had planned to unite and strengthen the Empire came from the initial Vulcan-Earth alliance from that 'mirror universe.'

"If you want for the Empire to survive, than stand down," he barked coldly. "If you want to live, then stay out of my way. For the Empire to survive, I must take command of it."

She had a look of regret on her face. ~_You know I can't do that. _~

He had hoped she would align herself with him, and action that would have, might have caused, other ship captains to do the same. "It's your death then," he said. "End transmission."

Hernandez dissolved; _Imperator _and the rest of the Fleet were moving fast towards them. Archer took a seat and reclined back. It didn't feel as comfortable as his old seat, but he could grow into it. "Contact _Avenger _and have them move into low orbit over San Francisco-Four hundred kilometers."

**.**

The bridge shuddered under the force of yet another salvo. The _Defiance_'s shields were easily repelling the attack. They were steadily weakening, but they had barely lost 5% of shield strength. Multiple Plasma beams shot out from the sleek hull of the ship, slicing apart the numerous ships as they swarmed the ship. Spatial/Photonic Torpedoes smashed on the shields, and plasma bursts and pulse phase cannons burning harmlessly on them.

Several Drones burst out from their launchers and raced outwards. They smashed into several ships, cutting them apart. In less than a minute, half of the fleet had been reduced to debris, and the rest were starting to break off. It was too late for them, Archer thought.

It was time to end this.

"Status of the _Avenger_," he demanded. The last Intrepid-class was burned apart by plasma beams.

"It has begun planetary bombardment."

He smirked.

More drones burst from their containment and smashed into more ships. Only a handful was left: three NX-class warships and the _Imperator _itself. They were all badly damaged, narrowly avoiding drones and plasma beams. The _Avenger _was already blasting the planet with torpedoes. By now, Starfleet Headquarters was gone, along with a large percentage of the city. "Get me the captain of the _Imperator,_" he ordered to Newbill.

Hernandez's image replaced the surviving ships. _Imperator_'s bridge seemed the worse of the battle; several damaged console sparked behind the captain, black fumes filled the air. "Starfleet Command is gone," Archer said bluntly. "Gardner and his senior staff have been relieved."

~_I saw it. _~

Leaning forward in the command chair, Archer went on. "The path of the Empire has changed. You and your ways are outdated and outmoded. The rebellion is over, Erika," he said. "Vulcan and Earth are now allies, and equals. I am now Emperor and my word are laws. Pledge your allegiance to me, and rejoin the new Terran Empire into a golden age."

He watched Hernandez glance around her shattered bridge, carefully considering her next words. Her crew had stopped work in mid-motion, shocked by the words, watching their captain's next actions very carefully. Finally she rose from her command chair, appearing weary as he snapped to attention and placed the closed fist of his right hand over his heart before extending the arm in salute. She had a pained look on her face.

~_Long live Emperor Archer_. ~

On the vewscreen, Archer saw _Imperator_'s bridge crew trade nervous looks before apparently following Hernandez's example.

~_Long live the Emperor! _~ came the chorus of pledges. Around him, Archer watched as-under the calm and somehow alluring gaze of T'Pol and his crew-_Defiance_'s remaining bridge joined in the salute.

He smirked.

The reign of Emperor Archer had begun.


	28. The End

I am sorry to say that all work, saved on Stargate: Mirror's Shadow and the Raid on the Twelve Colonies, will be discontinued. Work will begin again, but on a redo of the Stargate: Covenant Empire. To join in how I can make it better, please go to Creative Writing, and offer your opinions on the thread **Stargate: Covenant Empire revised. **I am sorry, to everyone.


End file.
